Measurement of symptom withdrawal severity in a 24-hour period after the anesthesia-assisted rapid opiate detoxification procedure

Abstract

This study examined the Anesthesia-Assisted Rapid Detoxification (AAROD) procedure and the measurement of withdrawal symptom severity within a 24-hour period. The Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) was utilized at various time intervals, post detoxification. This study demonstrated that all of the patients who underwent the AAROD procedure had withdrawal symptoms post detoxification in the mild range of severity, unlike like traditional detoxification procedures. Further studies are needed to measure withdrawal symptoms longer than one-day post detoxification and to compare the differences between various detoxification protocols.