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The use of naltrexone, an opiate antagonist, in the treatment of opiate addiction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Conor K Farren
Conor K Farren*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, Substance Abuse Treatment Unit, Box 18, 1 Long Wharf, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA
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Abstract

Objective: The objective of this article is to review the use of the opiate antagonist naltrexone as an alternative to opiate agonist maintenance in the treatment of opiate addiction.

Method: An extensive literature search, via Medline, Biosis, Psycinfo and other databases was carried out.

Results: Naltrexone has been used in the treatment of opiate addicts in a variety of settings. A number of methods of induction onto naltrexone of recently abstinent addicts have been used in different settings. Naltrexone has had a wide range of outcome success with different populations and associated treatment regimes.

Conclusions: The benefits of naltrexone can be compared with alternatives such as methadone maintenance and therapeutic communities. Naltrexone can be made more effective in the general population of opiate addicts with the use of adjunctive therapies.

Keywords

Opiate antagonistOpiate addictionNaltrexone
Type
Reviews
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 31 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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