Guanfacine Treatment in a Patient with Intravenous Buprenorphine/Naloxone Misuse

Abstract

In this case report, we described a patient admitted with buprenorphine/naloxone (BN) misuse, accompanied by intermittent pregabalin misuse, to self-treat the opioid withdrawal symptoms. We treated the withdrawal symptoms after cessation of BN with guanfacine extended-release (XR). To our knowledge, it has been the first case report describing guanfacine-XR in the treatment of BN misuse. Notably, our patient responded to the treatment with a decrease in withdrawal symptoms without any significant side-effect. Although it is not possible to generalize our findings with a single case report, it might be useful to mark guanfacin-XR as a potential treatment agent for opioid use disorders, including patients with synthetic opioid misuse.