title: Treatment of opioid dependence in adolescents and young adults with extended release naltrexone: preliminary case-series and feasibility.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Opioid dependence is an increasing problem among adolescents and young adults, but in contrast to the standard in the adult population, adoption of pharmacotherapies has been slow. Extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) is a promising treatment that has been receiving increasing interest for adult opioid dependence. Clinical chart abstractions were performed on a convenience sample of 16 serial adolescent and young adult cases (mean age 18.5 years) treated for opioid dependence with XR-NTX who attended at least one out-patient clinical follow-up visit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of these 16 cases, 10 of 16 (63%) were retained in treatment for at least 4 months and nine of 16 (56%) had a 'good' outcome defined as having substantially decreased opioid use, improvement in at least one psychosocial domain and no new problems due to substance use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These descriptive results suggest that XR-NTX in the treatment of adolescents and young adults with opioid dependence is well tolerated over a period of 4 months and feasible in a community-based treatment setting, and associated with good outcomes in a preliminary, small non-controlled case-series. This probably reflects an overall trend towards greater adoption of medication treatments for this population.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MD, USA. mjfishman@comcast.net
authors.forename: Marc J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fishman
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Winstanley
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garrett
authors.forename: Geetha
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Subramaniam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010290:Parents; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000188:drug therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D002047:Buprenorphine; D009271:Naltrexone