Guidelines for the assessment and management of addiction in the hospitalized patient with opioid use disorder: a twenty-first century update

Abstract

While there have been many articles published on managing the medical sequelae of opioid use disorder in specific patient populations or settings, there is a dearth of literature on assessing and managing opioid use disorder in the acute hospital setting. In 1975, Fultz and Senay published proposed guidelines on the management of what they called the "hospitalized narcotic addict" Fultz and Senay (Ann Intern Med 82(6):815-818, 1975). Since then, many new developments in the treatment of opioid use disorder have occurred. In our experience, services in the acute inpatient hospital turn to psychiatric consultation teams for recommendations on how to manage these complicated and, sometimes, difficult patients. This article serves to provide the internal medicine physician a foundation of understanding how to address the main issues in hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder on a general medical or surgical floor.

Keywords: Addiction; Methadone; Opiate intoxication; Opiate use disorder; Opiate withdrawal; Opioid use disorder.