New Study Supports Personalized Restart Of Methadone For Opioid Use Disorder

A caller study from University of Colorado Anschutz and Denver Health researchers, published coming in JAMA Network Open, introduces a much individualized attack to restarting methadone curen for group pinch opioid usage disorder. The findings propose that tailoring methadone doses to each patient's unsocial circumstances tin amended attraction without compromising safety.

Methadone is simply a proven medicine that tin trim nan consequence of decease from opioid usage upset by astir 50%. The researchers considered that existent curen protocols often place individual diligent needs, particularly erstwhile restarting methadone aft missed doses. Standard guidelines typically require ample dose reductions, moreover if patients person maintained their opioid tolerance done usage of non-prescribed opioids.

CU Anschutz adjunct professor of soul medicine, Paul Christine, MD, PhD, was portion of nan squad that developed and tested a caller protocol that allows for much personalized methadone restart decisions. The study recovered that patients who restarted methadone aft nan caller protocol was introduced received higher doses safely, pinch nary summation successful adverse events compared to accepted methods.

This study shows that we tin safely tailor methadone curen to amended meet patients wherever they are. It's a measurement toward much responsive, effective care."

Paul Christine, MD, PhD, CU Anschutz adjunct professor of soul medicine, expert astatine Denver Health

The investigation besides reflects nan changing scenery of opioid use. As nan proviso has shifted from heroin to much potent synthetic opioids for illustration fentanyl, galore patients participate curen pinch higher tolerance levels, making individualized dosing moreover much critical.

Nearly 200 patients were portion of nan study, which was supported by Denver Health's Center for Addiction Medicine. The study reviewed astir 500 restart episodes earlier and aft nan caller protocol was introduced.

The squad shared first findings astatine a convention successful 2024 wherever immoderate methadone clinics successful different states promptly adopted nan protocols successful nan study. The afloat study, funded by nan National Institutes of Health and Denver Health's Center for Addiction Medicine, is disposable successful nan JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed, open-access diary from nan American Medical Association.