Opioid use disorder (DUO) is still the most common pathology in the population attending outpatient addiction services. All international guidelines define treatment with opioid agonists as the Gold Standard of treatment ((1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Despite this, in Italy the estimate of coverage with this therapy of people with a DUO is just over 40% (6). DUO can be treated through maintenance therapy with opioids in combination with psychosocial support, but to be effective, maintenance therapy with opioids must be maintained regularly for a prolonged period of time. Buprenorphine (BPN) is one of the most common pharmacological treatments and to date is based on the intake of tablets or sublingual film.
In recent years, Long Acting injectable formulations have been introduced onto the market in weekly or monthly preparations and a formulation as a subcutaneous implant lasting 6 months. Buprenorphine implants allow for a more flexible treatment pathway with individualized approaches and have been associated with important benefits for both patient quality of life and burden on health systems. In this article we describe the clinical experience conducted in an outpatient addiction service