Anesthesia Assisted Rapid Opiate Detoxification

Anesthesia Assisted Rapid Opiate Detoxification Accelerated opiate detoxification has a long history dating back more than 40 years. This procedure has been researched and advanced by many doctors around the world. The use of opiate receptor antagonists was first introduced in the early 1970′s. Opiate receptor antagonists such as naloxone and naltrexone bind with opiate receptors in the brain, blocking the ability for opiates to have any effect, and preventing opiate cravings.

Various protocols of “Rapid” or “Ultra Rapid” opiate detoxification (ROD or UROD) have been developed since 1988 when Loimer reported his “Ultra Rapid” technique of detoxification under anesthesia to rapidly induce detoxification while blocking the severe symptoms of opiate withdrawal. These accelerated methods use high levels of antagonist to shorten the duration of acute withdrawal within hours, in contrast to several days, and while under anesthesia the patient is not subject to discomfort. When the patient wakes up from the anesthesia, detoxification should be completed, withdrawal minimized and craving are limited.

Anesthesia Assisted Rapid Opiate Detoxification Anesthesia helps the patient endure the detoxification process. While the patient is under anesthesia, physicians administer medications to hasten the detoxification process, so that the patient can be drug-free in a few hours instead of days or weeks. This procedure is also known as rapid detox, anesthesia assisted detox, rapid drug detox, medical detox, rapid opiate detox and ultra rapid detox.

The anesthesia assisted rapid opiate detoxification has evolved tremendously since its inception and the first studies on the history of rapid detox were published in the literature in 1977 by Richard B. Resnick MD. Modern anesthesia has made it is safer and more effective. Most patients experience very few symptoms from anesthesia after the procedure is over. Today, there are two types of anesthesia-assisted detoxification – general anesthesia and sedation.

General Anesthesia Many rapid detox centers administer general anesthesia to put the patient “to sleep” during the procedure. During general anesthesia, doctors insert a breathing tube to help the patient breathe; this tube stays in place usually for 2-6 hours and requires the patient to receive large doses of anesthesia to tolerate the breathing tube.

After administering medications to reduce opioid levels, in most cases the practitioner awakens the patient at the end of the procedure to remove the breathing tube. This can mean that the patient is more awake towards the end of the procedure and at risk for experiencing discomfort.

A few hours after the procedure, most of these rapid detox centers often discharge the patient from the surgery center to a nearby hotel where the patient recovers from the procedure and is cared for by a family member or a friend and without the supervision and undivided support of trained medical professionals.

To accommodate this early discharge, practitioners often limit the amount of sedation given to a patient so that he awakens quickly to expedite the discharge process.

Waismann Method ® Rapid Drug Detoxification & Deep Sedation Deep sedation is a form of anesthesia but it is quite different from general anesthesia. While sedation spares the patient from experiencing uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms as well as general anesthesia, sedation does not require a breathing tube. As an added benefit, the patient will remain fully sedated throughout the entire procedure and is not required to be awake to experience symptoms during the final steps of detoxification.

Waismann Method® is a form of “anesthesia-assisted detoxification” or “anesthesia detox” that uses deep sedation and rather than use general anesthesia. We monitor patients closely in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) until the next morning. There is no rush to discharge, and the patient need not finish the recovery phase alone in a strange hotel room.

With the Waismann Method ®, patients are able to remain sedated and comfortable while being monitored by an RN in the ICU.