Clark, Nicolas C. and Lintzeris, Nicholas and Gijsbers, Alan and Whelan, Greg and Dunlop, Adrian and Ritter, Alison and Ling, Walter W. (2002) LAAM maintenance vs methadone maintenance for heroin dependence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (2), DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD002210.
External website: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/1...
Objective: To compare the efficacy and acceptability of LAAM maintenance with methadone maintenance in the treatment of heroin dependence.
Opiate drugs are used to help people reduce their dependence on heroin (an opiate drug). Methadone needs daily doses, but the effects do not last 24 hours for many people. A dose of LAAM (levomethadyl acetate hydrochloride) works for two or three days. LAAM is not as widely available internationally as methadone, and may be withdrawn from the market because of concerns about life-threatening effects on the heart. The review found that LAAM is more effective than methadone at reducing heroin dependence, but there was not enough evidence from trials to draw conclusions about safety.
B Substances > Opioids (opiates) > Heroin
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Substance disorder treatment method > Substance disorder drug therapy (pharmacological treatment)
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Substance disorder treatment method > Substance replacement method (substitution)
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Substance disorder treatment method > Substance replacement method (substitution) > Opioid agonist treatment (methadone maintenance / buprenorphine)
HJ Treatment or recovery method > Treatment outcome
J Health care, prevention, harm reduction and treatment > Health care administration > Health care quality control
VA Geographic area > International
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