Acute pain Management for a Patient with Chronic Pain Stabilized on buprenorphine-naloxone

Abstract

For a small percentage of patients suffering from chronic pain, buprenorphine-naloxone (bup-nal) is a useful pharmacologic option. This case study describes the experience of a patient stabilized on buprenorphine-naloxone (bup-nal) who required urgent dental surgery. This example adds to the literature because it involves managing acute pain in a patient with chronic pain stabilized on bup-nal in an outpatient setting without tapering down the bup-nal, and without adding a full-agonist opioid. We will describe how we managed her post-surgical pain using additional doses of bup-nal for acute pain management.