Incidence of Precipitated Withdrawal During a Multisite Emergency Department–Initiated Buprenorphine Clinical Trial in the Era of Fentanyl

Buprenorphine is a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) with a relatively low rate of triggering precipitated withdrawal in patients. Increased precipitated withdrawal rates have become a concern for practitioners in emergency departments when treating with buprenorphine with the prevalence of fentanyl in the drug supply. The study, which reviewed 1200 patients with fentanyl in their urine, found that less than 1% of patients experienced precipitated withdrawal when treated with buprenorphine.