UI - 000244

AU - Tennant FS Jr.

AU - Rawson RA

AU - Miranda L

AU - Obert J

TI - Outpatient treatment of prescription opioid dependence: comparison of two methods

AB - AB - Outpatient treatment of 42 patients who presented with dependence upon prescription opioids

was attempted by two different methods. The first group of 21 patients was treated by 21-day detoxification

followed by psychotherapeutic counseling (D/C), and the next 21 patients were offered 21-day detoxification

to be followed by opioid maintenance if detoxification was unsuccessful (D/M). Only 5 of 21 (23.8%)

patients in the D/C group compared to 20 of 21 (95.2%) in the D/M group completed three weeks of

treatment (P less than .001). On admission, no patient perceived that chronic pain due to a medical condition

would be an impediment to withdrawal from opioids, but pain which was masked by opioid dependency and

which emerged during detoxification proved to be an insurmountable barrier to total withdrawal in the

majority of patients. Treatment of outpatients who presented with dependence upon prescription opioids

was best provided in the study by opioid maintenance and adjunctive pain therapy UI - 83271438

SO - NIDA Res Monogr 1983;43:315-321