Critical Care Addiction Medicine: Considerations for Buprenorphine in Intubated Patients

Friday, April 24, 2026

3:15 PM - 4:30 PM PT

Location: Gaslamp, Level 2

Presenter(s)

Anthony Spadaro, MD MPH

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Jersey city, New Jersey

Slides Handouts
JK

Jessica J. Krueger, MD

Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Newark, New Jersey
Robert Cole Pueringer, MD

Addiction Medicine, Medical Toxicology; Medical Director of Substance Use and Addiction Care Program
Essentia Health
Duluth, Minnesota
Ryan JJ Buckley, MD, MPH

Assistant Professor
Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut

Addiction medicine consult services may be consulted to assist in the management of critically ill patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are intubated in the intensive care unit (ICU). There are no clear guidelines for how or when to best initiate buprenorphine in intubated patients. In this session, attendees will discuss the ethics and practice of starting buprenorphine in intubated patients and will include considerations of patient autonomy, patient selection, and dose and route of buprenorphine administration.

Learning Objectives:

Learners will be able to:

Reflect on the ethics principles that may guide the decision to initiate patients in the ICU on buprenorphine
Update protocols for an addiction medicine consult service for taking care of patients in the ICU with OUD
Summarize the different treatment approaches to patients with OUD in the ICU

Disclosure(s):

Anthony Spadaro, MD MPH: No financial relationships to disclose

Jessica J. Krueger, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Robert Cole Pueringer, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Ryan JJ Buckley, MD, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose