Naloxone/Buprenorphine, Methadone, Naltrexone and Their Role in Medication Assisted Treatment

Abstract Opioid use disorder (OUD) is an increasingly common diagnosis that has drastically increased in the last 5 years. Though multiple treatment modalities exist for treating OUD (naltrexone, buprenorphine, methadone), few studies have compared treatment outcomes in adults on long term therapy. This is an important topic to understand as providers as we will undoubtedly come into contact with patients either actively abusing opioid antagonists or in recovery from opioid abuse. Since the introduction of Oxycontin and subsequent over prescription of opioid analgesics, opioid overdoses have increased by over twelve-fold. Once providers began to realize a widespread pattern of abuse, patients were widely taken off their prescriptions and turned to illegal means of purchasing opioids. Treatment outcomes with greater efficacy are highly sought after due to the increased mortality associated with opioid relapse, largely due to the introduction of fentanyl into opioid products acquired in a non-medical setting. Along from pure fentanyl introduced into products sold in an illicit fashion as opioids, fentanyl analogues have become increasingly common to find in a laboratory evaluation of these products. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy of naltrexone and buprenorphine-naloxone in maintaining prolonged abstinence following opioid cessation