Buprenorphine is an effective and safe treatment for opioid use disorder, but the requirement for moderate opioid withdrawal symptoms to emerge prior to initiation is a significant treatment barrier.
We report on two cases of hospitalized patients with severe, active opioid use disorder, in which we initiated treatment with transdermal buprenorphine over 48 h, followed by the administration of a single dose of sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone and then extended-release subcutaneous buprenorphine. The patients did not experience precipitated withdrawal and only had mild withdrawal symptoms.
This provides preliminary evidence for a rapid induction strategy that may improve tolerability, caregiver burden, and treatment retention as compared to previous induction strategies.