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Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in Pediatric Medical Settings

  • Opioids (J Donroe and D Fiellin, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review is to examine the impact of the opioid epidemic in adolescents and young adults and recent findings regarding the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) in pediatric medical settings.

Recent Findings

Existing guidelines for the treatment of chronic pain in adults are not intended to be applied to adolescents, who arguably may need different interventions that balance the need to mitigate the long-term impact of chronic pain with the need to limit opioid misuse. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment is an important upstream strategy to prevent opioid misuse in youth. Medications such as buprenorphine, naltrexone, and methadone are important treatment options for youth with OUD but remain underutilized in this population.

Summary

More research is needed to better understand how to best prevent opioid misuse and treat OUD in adolescents and young adults.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Sharon Levy

  2. Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Sharon Levy

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Sharon Levy

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Deepa Camenga

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, 464 Congress Avenue, New Haven, CT, USA

    Deepa Camenga

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  1. Sharon Levy
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Correspondence to Sharon Levy.

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Levy, S., Camenga, D. Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in Pediatric Medical Settings. Curr Addict Rep 6, 374–382 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-019-00272-0

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