Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38229200›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical case reports2024

Low dose lofexidine for medically directed outpatient opioid tapering in adults with chronic pain: a prospective case series.

Megan M Ellis, Nathan D Eberhart, Nafisseh S Warner, W Michael Hooten

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medical case reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Megan M EllisDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo School of Graduate Education, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Charlton 1-145, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Nathan D EberhartDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo School of Graduate Education, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Charlton 1-145, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Nafisseh S WarnerDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo School of Graduate Education, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Charlton 1-145, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
W Michael HootenDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Mayo School of Graduate Education, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Charlton 1-145, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA. hooten.william@mayo.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5645-6355
Mayo Clinic · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn adults with chronic pain, mild-to-moderate withdrawal symptoms during medically directed opioid tapering in the outpatient setting may not be accompanied by hypertension or tachycardia. This clinical scenario could limit the use of lofexidine at dosages reported in clinical trials of opioid withdrawal precipitated by abrupt opioid discontinuation. Thus, the primary aim of this prospective case series is to describe the use of low dose lofexidine for opioid withdrawal in patients with chronic pain undergoing medically directed opioid tapering in an outpatient setting.

methodsSix patients (white 5, Latino 1) admitted to an outpatient interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients self-selected to undergo medically directed opioid tapering, and the medication the patients were prescribed upon admission was used in the taper schedule. Upon initiation of the opioid taper, patients received 0.18 mg of lofexidine every 6 hours.

resultsFive of the six patients were women, and the median morphine milligram equivalents at baseline were 36.9. The median taper duration was 15 days, and the median duration of lofexidine administration was 14 days. Withdrawal scores were mild throughout the taper in four patients, and two patients with fibromyalgia experienced single episodes of moderately severe withdrawal symptoms at the median morphine milligram equivalent midpoint of the taper. No hypotension or sustained bradycardia were observed, and no adverse effects related to lofexidine were reported.

conclusionThe observations from this prospective case series suggest that low-dose lofexidine may be a feasible adjunct medication to attenuate withdrawal symptoms in adults with chronic pain undergoing outpatient opioid tapering.

Indexed as

Chronic PainSubstance Withdrawal SyndromeAdultAnalgesics, OpioidClonidineFemaleHumansMaleMorphine DerivativesOutpatientsAnalgesics, OpioidClonidinelofexidineMorphine DerivativesChronic painLofexidineOpioid withdrawal

Identifiers

PMID38229200
PMCPMC10792778
OpenAlexW4390929103

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.