Ondansetron does not prevent physical dependence in patients taking opioid medications chronically for pain control

Abstract

We hypothesized that ondansetron would prevent the development of physical dependence in human subjects when co-administered with opioids, but found no difference in naloxone-precipitated opioid withdrawal scores between ondansetron and placebo treatment groups. These results suggest that further studies are needed to determine if 5HT receptor antagonists are useful in preventing opioid physical dependence.