BUPRENORPHINE/NORBUPRENORPHINE

Buprenorphine is a highly lipophylic derivative of the Thebaine(1) and is a powerful partial agonist analgesic(1, 2). It is effective in treating pain and is 25 to 40 times more potent than morphine. Since the 1980s it has been widely prescribed for the treatment of moderate to severe pain and in anaesthesiology for premedication and/or anaesthetic induction(2). Soon after buprenorphine became clinically available there were reports of abuse as it was frequently used as the drug of choice when there was a shortage of heroin supplies(1). Studies then showed that when buprenorphine was used for opiate dependence treatment the withdrawal syndrome on discontinuing buprenorphine was milder than methadone and that fewer symptoms emerged during detoxification with buprenorphine(3).