AIM The injection of non-sterile methadone designed for oral consumption is associated with serious health risks. There is only a small number of studies on this topic, with divergent results. The main aim of the present study was to obtain data on the frequency of methadone injecting in a state out-patient clinic specialised in substance use disorders. METHODS Eighty patients in methadone ma...

We present a case of T.M. admitted to University Department of Psychiatry, Split University Hospital Center, in Croatia, because of the acute psychotic reaction (F23.9). The patient's urine tested positive for methadone without a history of methadone ingestion. Urine drug screen was performed with the COBAS Integra Methadone II test kit (kinetic interaction of microparticles in solution /KIMS/ ...

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...

OBJECTIVE To examine the population-wide overdose risk emerging from the prescription of methadone and buprenorphine for opioid substitution treatment in England and Wales. DESIGN Retrospective administrative data study. SETTING National databases for England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS/CASES Drug-related mortality data were drawn from the Office for National Statistics, and prescription data...

OBJECTIVES Methadone is a well-studied, safe, and effective medication when dispensed and consumed properly. However, a number of studies have identified elevated rates of overdose and death in patients being treated with methadone for either addiction or chronic pain. Among patients being treated with methadone in federally certified opioid treatment programs, deaths most often occur during th...

OBJECTIVES Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) effectively reduces illicit opioid use and its negative consequences when patients participate in and adhere to treatment. Patients' participation and adherence may relate to their perceptions about methadone doses and dose adjustments and the meanings that patients associate with treatment. This study assessed patient perceptions about methadone...

BACKGROUND Methadone is frequently administered to adults experiencing anesthesia and receiving pain treatment. Methadone pharmacokinetics in adults are well characterized, including the perioperative period. Methadone is also used in children. There is, however, no information on methadone pharmacokinetics in children of any age. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the pharmacok...

Methadone maintenance treatment has been shown in many studies to reduce mortality and morbidity among heroin users. However, there has been concern that widespread methadone prescribing will lead conversely to an increase in methadone-related deaths. This study in Sheffield shows no increase in methadone-related mortality over a two-year period, during which 400 untreated patients were recruit...

INTRODUCTION The use of methadone as an analgesic is on the increase, but it is widely recognized that the goal of predictable and reproducible dosing is confounded by considerable variability in methadone pharmacokinetics, and unpredictable side effects that include sedation, respiratory depression and cardiac arrhythmias. The mechanisms underlying these unpredictable effects are frequently un...

The main purpose of this research was to determine the influence a therapeutic dose an opioid drug (methadone) on selected auditory functions in patients addicted opioids (recognition ICD-10; F11) and undergoing substitution therapy. Various hearing tests were used – pure tone audiometry, impedance otoacoustic emission measurement, speech noise test two sessions, before after methadone intake. ...