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Opioids can cross both the placental and blood-brain barriers, which poses risks to fetuses and newborns exposed to these drugs before birth. This exposure to opioids during pregnancy can lead to potential obstetric complications, including spontaneous abortion, abruption of the placenta, pre-eclampsia, prelabor rupture of membranes, and fetal death.
Buprenorphine, sold under the brand name Subutex among others, is an opioid used to treat opioid use disorder, acute pain, and chronic pain. [18] It can be used under the tongue (sublingual), in the cheek (buccal), by injection (intravenous and subcutaneous), as a skin patch (transdermal), or as an implant.
Women should speak to their doctor or healthcare professional before starting or stopping any medications while pregnant. [1] Drugs taken in pregnancy including over-the counter-medications, prescription medications, nutritional supplements, recreational drugs, and illicit drugs may cause harm to the mother or the unborn child.
One of the most well-known consequences of maternal opioid use during pregnancy is the risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS occurs when the newborn experiences withdrawal symptoms after birth due to exposure to opioids in the womb. Maternal opioid use during pregnancy can also have long-term effects on the child's development.
An equianalgesic chart can be a useful tool, but the user must take care to correct for all relevant variables such as route of administration, cross tolerance, half-life and the bioavailability of a drug. [5] For example, the narcotic levorphanol is 4–8 times stronger than morphine, but also has a much longer half-life. Simply switching the ...
[129] [130] While the risk of misuse or overdose is higher with buprenorphine alone compared to the buprenorphine/naloxone combination or methadone, its usage is linked to a decrease in mortality. [ 131 ] [ 7 ] Approved in the U.S. for opioid dependence treatment in 2002, [ 132 ] buprenorphine has since expanded in form, with the FDA approving ...
Buprenorphine/naloxone, sold under the brand name Suboxone among others, is a fixed-dose combination medication that includes buprenorphine and naloxone. [3] It is used to treat opioid use disorder , and reduces the mortality of opioid use disorder by 50% (by reducing the risk of overdose on full-agonist opioids such as heroin or fentanyl ).
Opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is a treatment in which prescribed opioid agonists are given to patients who live with opioid use disorder (OUD). [1] In the case of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), methadone is used to treat dependence on heroin or other opioids, and is administered on an ongoing basis.