All-Ohio Medical School Opioid Use Disorder Collaborative Curriculum

This session will equip the learner with the ability to recognize, assess, and treat opioid withdrawal. The learner will be able to score the severity of the withdrawal. The learner will be able to choose from different treatment options to manage opioid withdrawal.

Instructional Strategy: Lecture/Discussion, 1 hour

Learning Objectives

1. Examine the features of opioid withdrawal in a written case.
2. Describe medications that may precipitate withdrawal
3. Risk stratify patients in opioid withdrawal
4. Manage the patient in opioid withdrawal
5. Prescribe appropriate therapy for patients in opioid withdrawal
6. Evaluate and manage opioid withdrawal in special populations

Author: Charles Emerman, MD

School: Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth Medical Center

• Boyer EW. Management of opioid analgesic overdose. N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 12;367(2):146-55. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1202561. Review. PubMed PMID: 22784117; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3739053. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739053/pdf/nihms469110.pdf

• Herring AA, Perrone J, Nelson LS. Managing Opioid Withdrawal in the Emergency Department With Buprenorphine. Ann Emerg Med. 2019 May;73(5):481-487. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2018.11.032. Epub 2019 Jan 5. Review. PubMed PMID: 30616926 Full text: https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(18)31482-3/pdf

• Kosten TR, Baxter LE. Review article: Effective management of opioid withdrawal symptoms: A gateway to opioid dependence treatment. Am J Addict. 2019 Feb;28(2):55-62. doi: 10.1111/ajad.12862. Epub 2019 Jan 31. Review. PubMed PMID: 30701615; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6590307. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6590307/pdf/AJAD-28-55.pdf