A history of opioid abuse: Why buprenorphine is superior for the management of opioid use disorder and pain

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jom.2021.0641

Keywords:

opioid-related overdose deaths (ORODs), opioid use disorder (OUD), medication-assisted treatment, μ opioid receptor (MOR), κ opioid receptor (KOR)

Abstract

Opioid abuse represents a public health crisis that has significant associated morbidity and mortality. Since beginning in the early 1990’s, the opioid abuse epidemic has been difficult to control due to regulatory, economic, and psychosocial factors that have perpetuated its existence. This era of opioid abuse has been punctuated by three distinct rises in mortality, precipitated by unique public health problems that needed to be addressed. Patients affected by opioid abuse have been historically treated with either methadone or naltrexone. While these agents have clinical utility supported by robust literature, we the authors posit that buprenorphine is a superior therapy for both opioid use disorder (OUD) as well as pain. This primacy is due to the pharmacological properties of buprenorphine which render it unique among other opioid medications. One such property is buprenorphine’s ceiling effect of respiratory depression, a common side effect and complicating factor in the administration of many classical opioid medications. This profile renders buprenorphine safer, while simultaneously retaining therapeutic utility in the medical practitioner’s pharmacopeia for the treatment of opioid use disorder and pain.

Author Biographies

Michael D. Komrowski, MS

New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York

Nitin K. Sekhri, MD

Pain Management Division, Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, New York

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Published

08/01/2021

How to Cite

Komrowski, MS, M. D., and N. K. Sekhri, MD. “A History of Opioid Abuse: Why Buprenorphine Is Superior for the Management of Opioid Use Disorder and Pain”. Journal of Opioid Management, vol. 17, no. 7, Aug. 2021, pp. 43-50, doi:10.5055/jom.2021.0641.