From Tabs to Jabs: Practical Tips for your clinic to provide Long-Acting Injectable Buprenorphine-Recording - From Tabs to Jabs: Practical Tips for your clinic to provide Long-Acting Injectable Buprenorphine

Recording - From Tabs to Jabs: Practical Tips for your clinic to provide Long-Acting Injectable Buprenorphine

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The lecture reviews practical use of long-acting injectable buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, focusing on Sublocade and Brixadi. The speakers explain why these medications are useful: they improve adherence, retention in care, harm reduction, and patient autonomy compared with daily sublingual buprenorphine. They discuss patient selection, especially for people with ongoing fentanyl use, unstable housing, cravings despite sublingual treatment, or difficulty taking daily medication.<br /><br />The talk compares the two products: Sublocade is monthly only, has higher serum buprenorphine levels, and may be better for patients using high amounts of fentanyl or needing stronger suppression of cravings. Brixadi comes in weekly and monthly forms, offers more dosing flexibility, and may leave less noticeable injection-site nodules.<br /><br />A major theme is direct-to-inject initiation. New evidence supports rapid starts using a 4 mg sublingual test dose for Sublocade or starting Brixadi directly in appropriate withdrawal states, with weekly Brixadi often used first when withdrawal is mild or the patient needs a slower transition.<br /><br />The presenters also cover pain control, supplemental films, REMS and storage requirements, insurance/payment issues, and team-based clinic workflows. A case of “Luna” illustrates how flexible dosing and patient-centered counseling can support successful treatment, including during pregnancy.

Keywords

long-acting injectable buprenorphine

opioid use disorder

Sublocade

Brixadi

fentanyl use

direct-to-inject initiation

patient adherence

harm reduction

pregnancy