Treating Benzodiazepine Withdrawal in a Bridge Clinic.

BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepine-involved overdose deaths are rising, driven by increasing use of nonprescribed benzodiazepine pills. For patients who wish to stop nonprescribed benzodiazepine use, rapid inpatient tapers are typically the only option to treat benzodiazepine withdrawal. Substance use disorder bridge clinics can provide the high-touch care needed to manage outpatient benzodiazepine tapers in patients at high risk due to other substance use disorders. OBJECTIVE: Describe the implementation and short-term outcomes of an outpatient benzodiazepine taper protocol to treat benzodiazepine withdrawal in a substance use disorder bridge clinic. METHODS: The clinical team developed a 4- to 6-week intensive outpatient taper protocol using diazepam. Patients with benzodiazepine use disorder were eligible if they had benzodiazepine withdrawal, lacked a prescriber, wanted to stop benzodiazepines completely, and agreed to daily visits. For patients who initiated a taper between April 2021 and December 2022, we evaluated the proportion of patients who completed a taper (i.e., tapered to a last prescribed dose of diazepam 10 mg/d or less); likelihood of remaining on the taper over time; and seizure, overdose, or death documented at the study institution during or within 1 month of taper completion or discontinuation. Other secondary outcomes included HIV testing and prevention, hepatitis C testing, and referrals to recovery coaching or psychiatry. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients initiated a total of 60 benzodiazepine tapers. The population was mostly male (61%) and non-Hispanic White (85%). Nearly all patients had opioid use disorder (96%), and most (80%) were taking methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder before starting the taper. Patients reported using multiple substances in addition to benzodiazepines, most commonly fentanyl (75%), followed by cocaine (41%) and methamphetamine (21%). Fourteen patients (23%) completed a taper with a median duration of 34 days (IQR 27.8-43.5). Most tapers were stopped when the patient was lost to follow-up (57%), or the team recommended inpatient care (18%). Two patients had a seizure, and 4 had a presumed opioid-involved overdose during or within 1 month after the last taper visit, all individuals who did not complete a taper. No deaths occurred during or within 1 month of taper completion or discontinuation. Challenges included frequent loss to follow-up in the setting of other unstable substance use. Patients received other high-priority care during the taper including HIV testing (32%), PrEP initiation (6.7%), hepatitis C testing (30%), and referrals to recovery coaches (18%) and psychiatry (6.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Managing benzodiazepine withdrawal with a 4- to 6-week intensive outpatient taper in patients with benzodiazepine and opioid use disorders is challenging. More work is needed to refine patient selection, balance safety risks with feasibility, and study long-term, patient-centered outcomes.

The End of the X-waiver: Excitement, Apprehension, and Opportunity.

With the passage of the MAT act (Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment) and the MATE Act (Medication Training and Expansion), the Drug Enforcement Agency "X-waiver" program governing the office-based prescription of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder has been immediately eliminated. The move was championed by vocal organizations with a rightful concern about buprenorphine access but was opposed by most physicians. Nonetheless, buprenorphine can now be prescribed like any schedule 3 medication. Studies show that despite rising opioid overdoses, buprenorphine prescription increases have been slow to rise and are particularly absent in rural communities. The elimination of the X-waiver may theoretically improve buprenorphine prescribing rates for opioid use disorder in rural areas, by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and by resident physicians in teaching programs. It may also help decrease discrimination against individuals with opioid use disorder in postacute-care settings like nursing homes, physical rehabilitation centers, and in prisons and jails. Concerns include the elimination of the only focused opioid use disorder education many physicians receive (X-waiver courses) and a literature base showing that interest, rather than the X-waiver itself, remains the biggest barrier to recruiting more buprenorphine prescribers. Concerns also exist over the harms of precipitated withdrawal when buprenorphine is initiated inappropriately. The change of the elimination of the X-waiver brings about a new opportunity for Family Medicine and its parent organizations to champion the inclusion of opioid use disorder treatment within the chronic disease care models well-known to our integrated care settings.

Characteristics of Fentanyl Overdose - Massachusetts, 2014-2016.

Opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts increased 150% from 2012 to 2015 (1). The proportion of opioid overdose deaths in the state involving fentanyl, a synthetic, short-acting opioid with 50-100 times the potency of morphine, increased from 32% during 2013-2014 to 74% in the first half of 2016 (1-3). In April 2015, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and CDC reported an increase in law enforcement fentanyl seizures in Massachusetts, much of which was believed to be illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) (4). To guide overdose prevention and response activities, in April 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner collaborated with CDC to investigate the characteristics of fentanyl overdose in three Massachusetts counties with high opioid overdose death rates. In these counties, medical examiner charts of opioid overdose decedents who died during October 1, 2014-March 31, 2015 were reviewed, and during April 2016, interviews were conducted with persons who used illicit opioids and witnessed or experienced an opioid overdose. Approximately two thirds of opioid overdose decedents tested positive for fentanyl on postmortem toxicology. Evidence for rapid progression of fentanyl overdose was common among both fatal and nonfatal overdoses. A majority of interview respondents reported successfully using multiple doses of naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose, to reverse suspected fentanyl overdoses. Expanding and enhancing existing opioid overdose education and prevention programs to include fentanyl-specific messaging and practices could help public health authorities mitigate adverse effects associated with overdoses, especially in communities affected by IMF.

A single-institution review of 157 patients presenting with benign and malignant tumors of the ampulla of Vater: management and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Although benign ampullary tumors are removed endoscopically, due to their potential to progress to malignant disease, the favored treatment for adenocarcinoma is pancreaticoduodenectomy. We reviewed our institution's experience in order to identify which patients were at highest risk of disease progression following surgical resection, as well as evaluate whether localized T1 tumors are best treated by pancreaticoduodenectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 157 patients who presented with an ampullary mass, from 2001 to 2010, and identified 51 with benign adenoma and 106 with adenocarcinoma. RESULTS: Patients with malignant tumors most often presented with larger tumors and jaundice, which alone was predictive of survival (OR = 67). Forty-five percent of patients with pathologically confirmed T1 tumors had positive lymph nodes and median survival was modest at 60 months. Lymph node involvement was predictive of recurrence and decreased survival. CONCLUSION: Patients with malignant tumors often present with jaundice and larger tumors. These findings should warrant suspicion for cancer and expedited preoperative workup. Based on our finding that nearly half the patients with T1 tumors had positive lymph nodes, we recommend pancreaticoduodenectomy for any patient with biopsy proven adenocarcinoma who is a suitable candidate for surgery.