Combination therapy appears safe for treating opioid use disorder during pregnancy

当前的指导方针建议孕妇with opioid use disorder be prescribed either methadone or buprenorphine, but these drugs too have significant potential for abuse. A recent study published inActa Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavicaindicates that combination therapy of buprenorphine and naloxone—which is known help to prevent such abuse—is as safe as buprenorphine alone during pregnancy for both mother and newborn.

In the study of 67pregnant women, the buprenorphine-naloxoneand buprenorphine groups showed similar outcomes and did not significantly differ from each other in terms of maternal health during pregnancies, deliveries, or newborn health.

"Combination therapy of buprenorphine and naloxone could be a choice for oral opioid maintenance treatment during pregnancy, but larger studies are needed before changing the official recommendations," said corresponding author Minna M. Kanervo, of Helsinki University Hospital, in Finland. "Women on methadone treatment may have more severe substance abuse problems, so they require particularly cautious follow-up."