Overview on opioids: Emerging maintenance therapies for opioid dependence

The treatment objectives for opioid dependence are dependent on the pursued goals, namely crisis intervention,abstinence-oriented treatment (detoxification and relapse prevention) or opioid maintenance treatment. Given thechronic relapsing nature of opioid dependence and the generally disappointing results with abstinenceapproaches, opioid-based maintenance therapy is considered the mainstay of treatment programs, demonstratingthe most favourable long-term treatment outcomes.