Barriers and Best Practices on the Management of Opioid Use Disorder

Abstract

Opioids refer to chemicals that agonize opioid receptors in the body resulting in analgesia and sometimes, euphoria. Opiates include morphine and codeine; semi-synthetic opioids include heroin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and buprenorphine; and fully synthetic opioids include tramadol, fentanyl and methadone. In 2021, an estimated 5.6 million individuals met criteria for opioid use disorder. This article provides an overview of the pharmacology of heroin and non-prescription fentanyl (NPF) and its synthetic analogues, and summarizes the literature related to the management of opioid use disorder, overdose, and withdrawal. This is followed by a description of barriers to treatment and best practices for management with a discussion on recent updates and their potential impact on this patient population. This is followed by a description of barriers to treatment and best practices for management with a discussion on recent updates and their potential impact on this patient population.

Keywords:

• Opioid use disorder
• barriers
• best practices
• harm reduction
• pregnancy
• adolescents

Declaration of interest

The author reports no conflict of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This publication was made possible by Grant Number FG-000068 from the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).10.13039/100000058 Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.