Successful Buprenorphine/Naloxone Low-dose Induction in Pregnancy: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) with methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone is recommended for pregnant women with OUD. Traditional buprenorphine/naloxone induction requires patients to be in moderate withdrawal before the first dose of medication to minimize the chances of precipitated withdrawal. The low-dose buprenorphine "microinduction" (Bernese) method was described in 2016 and involves giving small doses of buprenorphine to patients for whom opioid withdrawal was not desirable. This method is being used widely in Vancouver in the context of high rates of overdose due to fentanyl poisoning. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24-year-old woman, in her first pregnancy, with severe opioid and stimulant use disorder successfully started on buprenorphine/naloxone through a low-dose-induction protocol. The dose was started at 0.5 mg sublingual daily and slowly increased to 18 mg over 17 days. She continued to use fentanyl/heroin during the induction. She did not experience precipitated withdrawal and was able to stop using nonprescribed opioids once at a therapeutic dose of buprenorphine/naloxone. DISCUSSION: This represents the first documented case of successful buprenorphine/naloxone low-dose induction in pregnancy. First-line recommendations still remain to use traditional buprenorphine/naloxone induction when patients present in withdrawal. Obtaining informed consent regarding the lack of research on low-dose induction in pregnancy as well as discussion of risks and benefits is essential. CONCLUSION: Low-dose induction with buprenorphine/naloxone was successfully done in an outpatient setting. This represents a novel way of initiation of medication for OUD, which may enhance choice and collaboration between health care providers and women impacted by substance use in pregnancy.

A randomized trial of yoga for adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) frequently experience interference with everyday activities. Mind-body approaches such as yoga have been recommended as interventions for patients with IBS. Despite promising results among adult samples, there have been limited studies exploring the efficacy of yoga with pediatric patients. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a preliminary randomized study of yoga as treatment for adolescents with IBS. METHODS: Twenty-five adolescents aged 11 to 18 years with IBS were randomly assigned to either a yoga or wait list control group. Before the intervention, both groups completed questionnaires assessing gastrointestinal symptoms, pain, functional disability, coping, anxiety and depression. The yoga intervention consisted of a 1 h instructional session, demonstration and practice, followed by four weeks of daily home practice guided by a video. After four weeks, adolescents repeated the baseline questionnaires. The wait list control group then received the yoga intervention and four weeks later completed an additional set of questionnaires. RESULTS: Adolescents in the yoga group reported lower levels of functional disability, less use of emotion-focused avoidance and lower anxiety following the intervention than adolescents in the control group. When the pre- and postintervention data for the two groups were combined, adolescents had significantly lower scores for gastrointestinal symptoms and emotion-focused avoidance following the yoga intervention. Adolescents found the yoga to be helpful and indicated they would continue to use it to manage their IBS. CONCLUSIONS: Yoga holds promise as an intervention for adolescents with IBS.

Faces scales for the measurement of postoperative pain intensity in children following minor surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Faces scales are commonly used to obtain self-reports of pain intensity from children. Previous research using hypothetical vignettes and pain following venepuncture has found differences in children's pain ratings as a function of the type of faces scale used. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether scales beginning with a smiling rather than neutral "no pain" face would produce higher ratings in the assessment of postoperative pain intensity in children and to compare ratings using different faces scales to those reported with an additional independent measure of pain intensity. METHODS: Participants were 78 children between the ages of 5 and 13 years undergoing surgery, one of their parents, and their postoperative care nurse. Following surgery, children were asked to provide a rating of their current pain intensity using a set of 5 successively administered faces scales and the Colored Analog Scale (CAS). Parents and nurses provided independent ratings using the same measures. RESULTS: Results showed that parents and nurses rated significantly more pain when using scales with a smiling rather than a neutral "no pain" face. This pattern was not as clear for the children's ratings, although their highest ratings were provided when using a smiling "no pain" faces scale. Children's and nurses' ratings on the CAS were generally more similar to their ratings using scales with neutral "no pain" faces, whereas parents' CAS ratings tended to fall in between ratings provided on the smiling and neutral "no pain" faces scales. Scale preference, age and sex differences in pain ratings, and child-parent-nurse agreement in pain ratings are also examined. DISCUSSION: Children's and parents' ratings of postoperative pain intensity are influenced by the presence of a smiling "no pain" face at the beginning of faces scales, with such scales producing significantly higher ratings than scales with neutral "no pain" faces. Ratings on the independent CAS measure were more comparable to those provided on faces scales with neutral "no pain" faces. Nurses are also susceptible to the influencing effect of a smiling face at the beginning of a faces scale.