New guidelines set to revolutionize treatment of opioid addiction

Opioid use disorder is one of the most challenging forms of addiction facing the health care system in British Columbia, and there’s a strong need for evidence-based guidelines to inform care. To this end, Vancouver Coastal Health has developed a first-of-its-kind guideline for the treatment of opioid addiction. Published in November, the guidelines are aimed at improving health professional’s knowledge of the full spectrum of treatment options for opioid addiction.

As noted by Dr. Evan Wood, medical director of community addiction services at VCH, “In recent years, science has enabled us to expand the options beyond just methadone to look at safer and more effective ways of treating the diversity of types of opioid addiction. So although methadone is a highly effective approach, not all patients need it and there are some challenges involved,” he says. “Essentially, what we’re encouraging physicians to do is generally start with the least toxic, most effective approach first, and proceed from there when necessary.”

The guideline, developed by VCH, Providence Health Care and representatives from the Ministry of Health, supports a diverse array of possible treatments, recognizing that different approaches are necessary for different patients and circumstances. These include using buprenorphine/naloxone (also known as Suboxone) as a preferred first-line treatment, since buprenorphine is six times safer than methadone in terms of overdose risk and has a safer side effect profile. The guideline also recognizes that most individuals will benefit from the ability to move between treatments, and highlights the role of support recovery programs.

The guideline is available on the VCH website.