RAPID HEROIN DETOX NOT WORTH RISK, COST

New York -- There's no quick fix for heroin addiction.

Rapid heroin detoxification under general anesthesia does not offer
enough benefit to justify the risk and expense, found a study
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Under this treatment, an opioid antagonist drug is administered to an
unconscious patient, enabling higher doses of the antagonist than
could otherwise be tolerated. However, the procedure costs up to
$15,000 US and has been linked to life-threatening adverse reactions,
including pulmonary edema and psychosis.

In the JAMA study, Dr. Eric Collins of Columbia University in New
York randomized 106 heroin-dependent patients to one of three groups.
In the first group, 35 patients were assigned to receive
anesthesia-assisted opioid detoxification and rapid naltrexone
induction. Another 37 patients were assigned to receive
buprenorphine-assisted rapid opioid detoxification with naltrexone
induction. In the third group, 34 patients were assigned to receive
clonidine-assisted opioid detoxification with delayed naltrexone induction.

All participants received withdrawal treatment as inpatients (72
hours), followed by 12 weeks of outpatient naltrexone therapy and
psychotherapy.

Severity of withdrawal symptoms was comparable in all three groups.
There was no significant difference in rates of completion for the
inpatient detoxification, or in dropout rates during the 12-week
followup. There were three potentially life-threatening adverse
events in the anesthesia group.

The researchers concluded that anesthesia-assisted rapid
detoxification is not currently a suitable treatment option.