Management of the Critically Ill Patient with Opioid Use Disorder.

Authors

Nicholas S Imperato, Anthony Spadaro

Published in

Emergency medicine clinics of North America. Volume 44. Issue 4. Pages 775-788. Epub May 18, 2026.

Abstract

The management of critically ill patients with opioid use disorder presents a unique challenge, as overdose, withdrawal, or concomitant intoxication, due to an unregulated drug supply, leads to physiologic changes that potentially impact standard treatment. This review article outlines an emergency medicine-focused approach for early recognition and stabilization of opioid overdose or withdrawal. Topics include naloxone, use of medications for opioid use disorder, recognition of concurrent intoxication, treatment of α2-agonist withdrawal, multimodal analgesia, and sedation for opioid-tolerant patients. The acute management of opioid use disorder is an opportunity to prevent withdrawal-related decompensation, improve comfort, and support ongoing engagement in treatment.

PMID:
42823017
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 02 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.