Drug Monitoring, Buprenorphine, Screen, Urine : 39353

QBUPU or 39353

Prescription Drug Monitoring, Pain Management

Preferred Specimen
20 mL urine
  
Minimum Volume
5 mL

Room temperature.

Room temperature: 14 days; Refrigerated: 14 days; Frozen: 30 days

Preserved samples

Monday - Saturday

2-3 days (From receipt at performing laboratory)

Buprenorphine       <5 ng/mL

Buprenorphine is used for treatment of chronic pain in non-opioid tolerant individuals and has found a significant role in treatment of addiction to other opiates. The test is a screening assay using cloned enzyme donor immunoassay (CEDIA) method of analysis. Therapeutic urine drug monitoring of buprenorphine (and its major metabolite, norbuprenorphine) is important for ensuring compliance to treatment strategies as well as ensuring non-diversion for illicit purposes. Urine or oral fluid are the specimens of choice for routine monitoring of patients taking buprenorphine. Use of serum/plasma should be limited to anuretic patients, or where a patient's clinical appearance does not coincide with their prescribed medications. No single monitoring approach provides adequate information about the pattern or dose of patient drug use. Safest prescribing habits should include a combination of tools and laboratory test results to correctly detect drug use patterns. Urine drug test results equal to or greater than cutoff are reported as positive and results less than cutoff are reported as negative.