Opioid Withdrawal Management
This course provides a practical overview of opioid withdrawal recognition and management across emergency department, inpatient, and home settings. Participants will review standardized assessment tools, including COWS and SOWS, and treatment strategies using buprenorphine, methadone, and symptom-directed adjunctive medications. The course also emphasizes precipitated withdrawal management, harm reduction, naloxone education, and connecting patients with ongoing treatment and recovery resources.
Learning objectives:
- Recognize and assess opioid withdrawal, including distinguishing typical withdrawal findings from alternative diagnoses and using standardized tools such as the Clinical Opioid Withdrawal Scale (COWS) and Subjective Opioid Withdrawal Scale (SOWS) to characterize severity.
- Select appropriate pharmacologic strategies for opioid withdrawal, including buprenorphine, methadone, and symptom-directed adjunctive medications, based on withdrawal severity, clinical setting, and patient characteristics.
- Apply practical approaches to buprenorphine initiation and precipitated withdrawal, including conventional induction, microdosing, macrodosing, and additional buprenorphine administration when withdrawal worsens after initiation.
Dr. Bobby Redwood
Bobby Redwood, MD, MPH, FACEP, focuses on opioid stewardship, medications for opioid use disorder, and reducing stigma around substance use disorder. He leads several initiatives, including the MidWest Alternatives to Opioids Program, the Montana Naloxone Project, and the Wisconsin Dental Pain Protocol. Clinically, he practices emergency and addiction medicine and is the immediate past president of the Montana College of Emergency Physicians.
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