Bridging ED to Outpatient AUD Therapy With Naltrexone

Summary

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a treatable and common condition encountered in the emergency department, but unfortunately is rarely directly addressed in emergency departments nationwide. To our knowledge, initiation of medication assisted therapy (MAT) for AUD in the emergency department setting has not been widely adopted. Our project is novel for its scope to use a medication well-tested in the outpatient environment and bring it to the emergency department in order to more effectively link patients to outpatient alcohol use reduction therapy as part of a medication assisted therapy (MAT). The investigators are proposing a feasibility project to initiate oral naltrexone to eligible ED patients deemed to have alcohol use disorder and who are interested in cutting down their drinking. The investigators plan to connect these patients with outpatient follow-up in our own community practice center (CPC) for intramuscular (IM) Vivitrol injections under the supervision of the Einstein Toxicology Department. Through the CPC, patients can also be referred to other supporting services such as Alcoholics Anonymous for multidisciplinary care. The investigators are optimistic that this innovative warm hand off from the initial ED visit to outpatient follow-up will ultimately decrease problematic drinking, improve patient's health, and benefit the hospital. Our main objective is to establish a pathway to encourage patients who present to the emergency room with acute sequelae of alcohol use disorder to enter outpatient treatment. Our intervention will be the initiation of oral naltrexone with warm handoff to the Community Practice Center where patients will be transitioned to intramuscular (IM) Vivitrol for chronic maintenance therapy. Thus success will be measured by primarily: percentage of patients who make it to their first outpatient visit for the Vivitrol injection, percentage of patients who continue with treatment and continue to receive Vivitrol for their second injection.

Timeline

Start

2022-03

Primary completion

2024-12

Completion

2025-07

Publications

• Background Garbutt JC, Kranzler HR, O'Malley SS, Gastfriend DR, Pettinati HM, Silverman BL, Loewy JW, Ehrich EW; Vivitrex Study Group. Efficacy and tolerability of long-acting injectable naltrexone for alcohol dependence: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005 Apr 6;293(13):1617-25. doi: 10.1001/jama.293.13.1617.
• Background Anderson ES, Chamberlin M, Zuluaga M, Ullal M, Hawk K, McCormack R, D'Onofrio G, Herring AA. Implementation of Oral and Extended-Release Naltrexone for the Treatment of Emergency Department Patients With Moderate to Severe Alcohol Use Disorder: Feasibility and Initial Outcomes. Ann Emerg Med. 2021 Dec;78(6):752-758. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.05.013. Epub 2021 Aug 2.
• Background Bryson WC, McConnell J, Korthuis PT, McCarty D. Extended-release naltrexone for alcohol dependence: persistence and healthcare costs and utilization. Am J Manag Care. 2011 Jun;17 Suppl 8(Suppl 8):S222-34.

Drugs

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