Inpatient Management of Opioid Use Disorder: A Review for Hospitalists.

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of nonmedical opioid use and opioid overdose-related deaths. As a result, there have been a number of public health interventions aimed at addressing this epidemic. However, these interventions fail to address care of individuals with opioid use disorder during hospitalizations and, therefore, miss a key opportunity for intervention. The role of hospitalists in managing hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder is not established. In this review, we discuss the inpatient management of individuals with opioid use disorder, including the treatment of withdrawal, benefits of medication-assisted treatment, and application of harm-reduction strategies. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:369-374.