Combining Opioid Addiction Treatment Services With CARe for Infectious Endocarditis

Hospitalizations for severe infections associated with opioid use disorder (OUD), such as infective endocarditis (IE), have doubled in the US over the past decade and are frequently prolonged and resource-intensive. Once medically stabilized, persons with IE but without drug use typically enroll in outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT), while persons with IE and OUD are kept in the hospital for the duration of therapy (often 6 weeks or more) largely due to concerns of ongoing drug use. Unfortunately, hospitalization for IE with OUD infrequently includes evidence-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine or methadone to address the OUD, despite the strong evidence that MAT decreases illicit drug use and mortality. Enrolling hospitalized persons with IE due to OUD into comprehensive MAT (i.e., buprenorphine + counseling) while inpatient, and providing an intensive transitional outpatient care program supporting MAT, may support provision of outpatient IV antibiotic therapy and be cost effective. The primary aim of this pilot randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the equivalence of current practice plus buprenorphine (keeping patients with IE due to opioid use disorder in the hospital for the full duration of antibiotic treatment) compared to OPAT plus buprenorphine (discharge with outpatient treatment once medically stable).