PubMed · 10647313
[Methadone as an analgesic].
Abstract
Methadone is a synthetic opioid agonist which has been available for more than 40 years. Although its main use has been in the maintenance therapy of opioid addicts, it has a number of unique characteristics including excellent analgesic effect, a high bioavailability, no known active metabolites, long duration of action during long-term treatment, high potency, and low cost. However, its use is limited by the complexity of the pharmacokinetics, with a risk of drug accumulation with toxic effects. Recent findings suggest that standard equianalgesic tables are unreliable, because methadone is much more potent when used for long-term treatment. Therefore methadone should be titrated carefully and increases in dosage should be performed every third or fourth day.
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M Kamp-Jensen, T Clausen, J Eriksen. 2000-01-10. [Methadone as an analgesic].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10647313/
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