Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid-Use Disorder.

The United States is in the midst of a national opioid epidemic. Physicians are encouraged both to prevent and treat opioid-use disorders (OUDs). Although there are 3 Food and Drug Administration-approved medications to treat OUD (methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone) and there is ample evidence of their efficacy, they are not used as often as they should. We provide a brief review of the 3 primary medications used in the treatment of OUD. Using data from available medical literature, we synthesize existing knowledge and provide a framework for how to determine the optimal approach for outpatient management of OUD with medication-assisted treatments.

Intentional or Inadvertent Acetaminophen Overdose-How Lethal It Really Is?

BACKGROUND: Acetaminophen, the ubiquitous over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic, is the most common drug used in intentional overdoses in the United States. Inadvertent self-poisoning is also a surprisingly common unintended consequence of acetaminophen misuse for pain management. OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of this naturalistic study was to substantiate outcomes that were previously described in other large cohorts of patients with acetaminophen overdoses. METHODS: The Rochester Epidemiology Project yielded a cohort of 207 patients of age 18 years or older treated at the Mayo Clinic between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2010 for excessive acetaminophen exposure. Patients with a diagnosis of acetaminophen overdose, acetaminophen ingestion, and/or acetaminophen toxicity were characterized according to demographics, treatment location, overdose intentionality, identities of the drugs and amounts taken, mental health and addiction history, previous suicide attempts, and current alcohol intake. Outcomes included N-acetylcysteine treatment, emergence of serious clinical syndromes, and admission to the liver transplant unit (LTU), liver transplant, and death. Data were analyzed using the JMP statistical program. RESULTS: Of 140 females and 67 males treated in the emergency department (ED), 184 (89%) were admitted, including 116 (56%) to the intensive care unit, 26 (13%) to medicine services, 18 (9%) directly to LTU, 23 (11%) directly to psychiatry services, and 1 (0.5%) to off-campus detox. The consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry service evaluated 175 patients (85%). Eighteen intensive care unit/medicine patients were eventually transferred to the LTU, and 104 of the 184 patients not immediately admitted to psychiatry were ultimately transferred there. Of all, 158 (76.3%) overdoses were intentional, but in the chronic pain subset of 14 patients, only 4 (29%) were. One hundred twenty-seven (61%) patients had no previous suicide attempt history. Twenty-one percent of the intentional overdose group versus 12.5% of the unintentional overdose group was intoxicated at the time of overdose. One hundred thirty-five (65%) patients received N-acetylcysteine, but barely a third (33%) were treated within the recommended 8 hours of overdose. Nonetheless, most outcomes were benign: only 36 (17.6%) required LTU admission because of serious medical complications. Only 12 received consideration for transplant, and only 5 (2.7%) were listed for transplant. Three (1.5%) ultimately received new livers. Two (1.0%) died awaiting transplant. Two of the 3 transplanted patients had unintentionally overdosed while treating chronic pain. CONCLUSIONS: A vast majority of patients survived and recovered without lasting medical sequelae, including liver transplant. Half of the patients received N-acetylcysteine, and only a third received it within the recommended 8-hour window after ingestion. Serious medical consequences were concentrated in the 17% of patients requiring LTU admission. With a transplant rate of 1.5% and a death rate of less than 1%, we conclude that the risk of serious medical outcomes from this frequent overdose modality is rare, even as the majority of both intentional and unintentional overdose patients received both inpatient medical and psychiatric treatment.

Cannabis abuse and dependence in kidney transplant candidates.

OBJECTIVE: Cannabis is the most commonly used non-alcohol intoxicant in the general population. There are no consistent guidelines on the implications of cannabis abuse and dependence (CAD) in kidney transplant candidates. The aims of this study were to characterize kidney transplant candidates with comorbid CAD and examine the implications of CAD on transplant candidacy. METHOD: This was a retrospective cohort study of kidney transplant candidates meeting diagnostic criteria for CAD at a tertiary center from 2012 to 2016. Candidates were reviewed for psychiatric and substance use disorders (SUDs), family history, and medical variables. The cohort was divided by severity of CAD and transplant listing status for comparisons. Statistical analysis included Kruskal-Wallis tests for continuous variables and Fisher's Exact Test for categorical variables. RESULTS: Sixty-one of 2067 (3%) kidney transplant candidates met criteria for CAD, and 13/61 (21%) underwent transplantation. Of 61, 58% smoked cannabis daily, 47% had alcohol dependence history, 31% had other illicit drug dependencies, 38% were smokers, 60% had a SUD family history, and 42% and 27% had depressive and anxiety disorders, respectively. Severity of CAD was inversely associated with transplant listing; those with cannabis abuse were more often listed than those with dependence (67% vs 33%, p = .02) by study end. Three case presentations illustrate cannabis-related issues. CONCLUSION: In this cohort, kidney transplant candidates with comorbid CAD have high prevalence of other substance use disorders, psychiatric comorbidities, and strong family histories of addictions that resemble other SUD populations. These findings have implications for pre-transplant screening and treatment and post-transplant monitoring.

The effects of parental opioid use on the parent-child relationship and children's developmental and behavioral outcomes: a systematic review of published reports.

BACKGROUND: Between 2009 and 2014, nearly 3% of US children (age ≤ 17 years) lived in households with at least 1 parent with substance use disorder. The present systematic review aimed to evaluate effects of parental opioid use disorder on the parent-child relationship and child developmental and behavioral outcomes. METHODS: Several databases were comprehensively searched for studies published from January 1980 through February 2018 that reviewed effects of parental opioid addiction on parent-child relationships and outcomes of children (age, 0-16 years). RESULTS: Of 304 unique studies, 12 evaluated effects of parental opioid addiction on the parent-child relationship as the primary outcome and on children's outcomes, including behaviors and development. Observation of mother-child interaction showed that mothers with opioid use disorders are more irritable, ambivalent, and disinterested while showing greater difficulty interpreting children's cues compared with the control group. Children of parents with opioid use disorders showed greater disorganized attachment; they were less likely to seek contact and more avoidant than children in the control group. The children also had increased risk of emotional and behavioral issues, poor academic performance, and poor social skills. Younger children had increased risk of abuse or neglect, or both, that later in life may lead to such difficulties as unemployment, legal issues, and substance abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence shows association between parental opioid addiction and poorer mother-child attachment and suboptimal child developmental and behavioral outcomes. Further research and treatment targeting children and families with parental opioid use are needed to prevent difficulties later in life.

Psychosocial Risk Impacts Mortality in Women After Liver Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplant candidates undergo psychosocial assessment as a component of their pretransplant evaluation. Global psychosocial assessment scales, including the Psychosocial Assessment of Candidates for Transplantation (PACT), capture and quantify these psychiatric and social variables. OBJECTIVE: Our primary aim was to assess for an association between global PACT score and survival in liver transplant recipients. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study examined records of all liver recipients at one U.S. Transplant Center from 2000 to 2012 with outcomes monitoring until 07/01/2016. We investigated for associations between the following variables and mortality: PACT score, age, gender, marital status, race, alcoholic liver disease (ALD), and body mass index (BMI). Statistical methods included Student's t-test, Wilcoxon rank sum test, chi-square, Fisher's exact test, Kaplan-Meier curve, and Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: Of 1040 liver recipients, 538 had a documented PACT score. Among these, PACT score was not associated with mortality. In women, a lower PACT score was associated with mortality (p = 0.003) even after adjustments for age, marital status, and BMI. Women with ALD had a 2-fold increased hazard of death (p = 0.012). Increasing age was associated with increased risk of death for the cohort as a whole (p = 0.019) and for men (p = 0.014). In men, being married and BMI were marginally protective (p = 0.10 and p = 0.13, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Transplant psychosocial screening scales, specifically the PACT, identify psychosocial burden and may predict post-transplant outcomes in certain populations. In female liver recipients, lower PACT scores and ALD were associated with a greater risk of post-transplant mortality.