Buprenorphine Implants an Effective Treatment for Opioid Addiction

A new study found buphrenorphine implants safely reduce cravings and illegal drug use in opioid-dependent people, HealthDay News reported Oct. 12.

Although the drug is usually administered orally, implants eliminate the risk of drug diversion and are a relatively safe alternative for patients who have difficulty sticking to an oral regimen, according to the study.

Investigators, led by Walter Ling, M.D., of the University of California in Los Angeles, placed buprenorphine implants in 108 patients and placebo implants in an additional 55 patients with opioid addiction and compared outcomes at 16 and 24 weeks. Participants in both groups received drug counseling throughout the study.

Forty percent of patients in the buprenorphine group tested negative for illegal drugs at 16 weeks compared with 28 percent of patients in the placebo group.

At 24 weeks, patients in the buprenorphine group had fewer withdrawal symptoms, less drug craving, and lower severity-of-opioid-dependence scores than patients in the placebo group, and they were much more likely to have remained in treatment (66% versus 31%). Adverse events were largely related to irritation or infection at the implant site.

“Further research is needed to assess how this treatment compares with current opioid maintenance treatment prior to the widespread use of implant buprenorphine in clinical practice,” said Patrick O'Connor, MD, of the Yale University School of Medicine in an accompanying editorial.

“If further research suggests that [the implant] is as good as or better than current treatment approaches, then the study by Ling et al would represent a major advance in the substantial and continued progress that has occurred in the treatment of opioid dependence since methadone maintenance began in the 1960s,” he concluded.

The study was published in the Oct. 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).