Methadone

Administration

  • Type: opioid
  • Dosage Forms:
  • Routes of Administration: oral, IM/subcutaneous
  • Common Trade Names:

Adult Dosing

  • Varies widely due to patient variability in ADME, tolerance, indication
  • Usual doses:
    • Opioid use disorder, maintenance: 40-120mg/day or higher
    • Pain: initial dose 2.5mg TID for opioid naive

Pediatric Dosing

Safety/efficacy not established in pediatric patients

  • 0.1-0.2mg/kg q6h

Special Populations

Renal Dosing

  • Adult: lower initial starting dose

Hepatic Dosing

  • Adult: lower initial starting dose

Contraindications

  • Allergy to class/drug

Adverse Reactions

Serious

Common

Pharmacology

  • Half-life: 8-59 hours
  • Metabolism: mostly hepatic

Mechanism of Action

  • Synthetic opioid

Comments

See Also

References