Purpose: With the introduction of buprenorphine (BUP, Subutex) for th e treat ment of pregnant opiate addicts the therapeutical spectrum for these patients wa s enhanced. Current publications showed advantages of BUP compared to methadone but did not explain how the switching of substances could be accomplished. We ha ve evaluated our data to give recommendations on the use of buprenorphine in pre gnancy. Material and Methods: Since the introduction of BUP in our therapeutic c oncept in June 2002 we have treated a total of 114 pregnant opiate addicts. 33 ( 29%) of the patients were substituted with BUP. Out of the group of patients no t treated with BUP we selected a control-group of 56 patients (49.1%) that met our criteria for BUP treatment but did not switch to BUP for various reasons. T he analysis presented here compares obstetrical and neonatological data between the BUP and methadone (LPolamidon) group. Results: The statistical analysis sh ows no significant difference with respect to demographical and obstetrical para meters between the two groups. The number of women with additional consumption o f illegal substances is comparable as well. The most important difference is a s ignificantly shorter duration of neonatal care for the group of BUP-exposed neo nates compared to the methadone group. Conclusion: Treatment of pregnant opiate addicts with the help of a substitution therapy with buprenorphine is easily acc omplished if certain precautions are met. The patient and the newborn benefit fr om fewer withdrawal symptoms. Interpretation of our data shows that despite the promising data not all patients benefit from a change to BUP.
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