A Safer Opioid? Buprenorphine for Acute Pain in the ED

A Safer Opioid? Buprenorphine for Acute Pain in the ED

January 1, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the use of low-dose buprenorphine for pain management in the emergency room.

Buprenorphine is well-known for opioid use disorder—but what about for acute pain? Drs. Terry Ahern and Jon Lee join host Maiya Smith to discuss low-dose buprenorphine for pain management in the emergency room, covering pharmacology, dosing, patient selection, and why it may be a safer, underused analgesic.

People in this episode

Host: Maiya Smith

Guests: Terry Ahern, Jon Lee

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Emergency Medicine Residents' Association

Products: buprenorphine

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