This article presents the cost-effectiveness results of a randomised controlled trial conducted in two Australian cities. The trial was designed to assess the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of buprenorphine versus methadone in the management of opioid dependence. The trial utilised a flexible dosing regime that was tailored to the clinical need of the patients, with high maximum doses,...

background : methadone is considered as a good choice for maintenance treatment program (mmtp) in opioid addicted individuals. qt interval prolongation was reported previously in methadone chronic usersespecially in high dose prescription. qt-interval prolongation predisposes patients to lethal dysrhythmia. this is a report of corrected qt(qtc) prolongation due to acute methadone poisoning. to ...

Objectives: This study presents the comparative safety and side effect profiles of buprenorphine and methadone, including gender relationships, from a clinical trial comparing buprenorphine and methadone in the outpatient treatment of opioid dependence. Methods: One hundred sixty-four opioid dependent volunteers age 18–50 years were randomized to buprenorphine (n = 84) or to methadone (n = 80) ...

Many clients who undergo methadone maintenance (MM) treatment for heroin and other opiate dependence prefer abstinence from methadone. Attempts at methadone detoxification are often unsuccessful, however, due to distressing physical as well as psychological symptoms. Outcomes from a MM client who voluntarily participated in an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - based methadone detoxifica...

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry quantitative method was developed to monitor concentrations of methadone and its metabolite 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) in plasma and urine of patients. The developed method was simple, accurate and reproducible to quantify methadone and EDDP in plasma and urine samples in the concentration range of 15-1,000 and 50-2,000 ng/mL, r...

Methadone is a potent synthetic opioid analgesic that has been used for decades, in conjunction with supportive psychological and social services, to manage and treat addiction to other opioids.1 Numerous incidents involving methadone have been reported,2 and methadone continues to be implicated in preventable deaths.3 This bulletin describes an incident involving a 10-fold overdose of methadon...

Methadone maintenance therapy for the treatment of opioid dependence continues to carry a social stigma. Until recently, patients on methadone were not considered for liver transplantation. We describe the first case of a patient on methadone who received a liver transplant for end stage liver disease and was successfully treated for recurrent hepatitis C. More than five years post transplant a...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the relationship between maternal methadone dose and the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). STUDY DESIGN We performed a retrospective cohort study of pregnant women treated with methadone for opiate addiction who delivered live-born neonates between 1996 and 2006. Four dose groups, on the basis of total daily methadone dose, were compared (<or=80 mg/d, 81-1...

BACKGROUND Methadone is a synthetic opioid, which has been successfully used in treating heroin addiction and chronic pain syndrome in palliative care for more than 30 years. This drug is a potent blocker of the delayed rectifier potassium ion channel, which may result in corrected QT (QTc) interval prolongation and increased risk of torsades de pointes (TdP) in susceptible individuals. CASE ...

Objective To compare the risk for all cause and overdose mortality in people with opioid dependence during and after substitution treatment with methadone or buprenorphine and to characterise trends in risk of mortality after initiation and cessation of treatment.Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.Data sources Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and LILACS to September 2016.Study selection Prosp...