From: Patients' perspectives on buprenorphine subcutaneous implant: a case series
Main points emerged | |
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Buprenorphine implant proposal* | • Psychological response to the proposal: moderate interest (n = 4), genuine enthusiasm (n = 2) • Motivation for the acceptance of the buprenorphine implant: achieving detoxification (n = 6), re-gain daily freedom (n = 6), improve quality of life (n = 6), reluctance to visit the Addiction Service and desire to evade the related self- and external-perceived stigma (n = 6), disengagement from daily intake and associated mood swing (n = 6) |
Surgery outcome | • Intra-operative: smooth surgical procedure (n = 6) • Post-operative: mild infection at the implant site (n = 1), overdose/withdrawal symptoms (n = 1) |
Follow-up visits | • Duration: 3 months (case report 1) or 7–9 months • Frequency: variable from once a week to once every 1.5 months • Main findings and assessments: consistently negative opioid toxicological tests (n = 6), positive or very positive outcomes emerging from psychometric tests for cravings (n = 6), positive or very positive outcomes emerging from self-reported quality of life questionnaires (n = 6) |
End of therapy | • Psychological response to the implant: satisfaction and happiness (n = 6), perception to be on the right path toward detoxification (n = 6), shift in self-perception, enhanced emotional stability, heightened introspective ability, renewed energy, and stabilized mood (n = 3), absence of cravings (n = 6), declining a second implant and additional OAT, patients conveyed a feeling of having “successfully distanced themselves from addiction after many years” (n = 6), • Clinicians observed that all patients exhibited all the necessary conditions for a favourable overall outcome of the treatment |