Authors: Soyka M
Abstract
Opioid maintenance therapy with methadone or buprenorphine is an established and first-line treatment for opioid dependence. Risk of diversion and toxicity of opioid prescription drugs, including buprenorphine, causes significant concerns. This is particularly the case in the United States, where the number of related emergency visits is increasing, especially in children. A systematic literature research (Medline, Pubmed) was performed to assess the risk associated with buprenorphine. The search, which was not limited to particular publication years, was performed with the key words buprenorphine AND toxicity (114 counts ) AND children (4 counts) and buprenorphine AND mortality AND children (5 counts). In addition, the author obtained information from rel…