High-dose buprenorphine inductions in hospital settings

Scott A Wu; Gayane N Archer; Brent D Schnipke

doi:10.1016/j.ajmo.2025.100118

High-dose buprenorphine inductions in hospital settings

Am J Med Open. 2025 Sep 16:14:100118. doi: 10.1016/j.ajmo.2025.100118. eCollection 2025 Dec.

Authors

Scott A Wu¹, Gayane N Archer^{1

2}, Brent D Schnipke^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
² Northwestern Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, Ill.

Abstract

•We present a discussion of inpatient high-dose buprenorphine induction (HDBI) with theoretical examples.•Previous reports focus mainly on HDBI performed in emergency departments.•HDBI is preferable in inpatient settings given the ability for medically supervised withdrawal and regular clinical monitoring.•Additional research is needed to compare different buprenorphine induction methods.

Keywords: Buprenorphine; High-dose buprenorphine induction; Opioid use disorder; Precipitated withdrawal; Substance use disorder.

Publication types

Letter