score greater than or equal to 4. In this study, precipitated withdrawal was defined as when a patient demonstrated marked escalation by five points or more on the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale within two hours of starting buprenorphine. Researchers found that despite high fentanyl use prevalence—about 76%—among 1,200 people with opioid use disorder, precipitated withdrawal occurred in nine out of the total 1,200 people, or 0.76%, and only 0.98% of those who had used fentanyl.
"Clinicians should encourage patients with opioid use disorder to take buprenorphine if they need it," said lead author Gail D'Onofrio, M.D., professor of emergency medicine at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut."We know that less than 23% of people with opioid use disorder are getting treated for it, and we only have a few medications for opioid use disorder that have been found to be very effective for opioid withdrawal to date.
These findings build upon existing evidence that administering buprenorphine in emergency departments helps people begin addiction treatment and that higher-dose buprenorphine is