What is The Difference Between OxyContin and Oxycodone?
Oxycodone and OxyContin are two prescription medications that contain the same active ingredient: oxycodone. Oxycodone is an immediate-release tablet, whereas OxyContin is an extended-release formulation.
Doctors prescribe these medications for treating and managing pain. Oxycodone and OxyContin are part of the narcotic family of medicines, so they are subject to strict regulation because of their potential for addiction, abuse, and misuse. Depending on the type of pain, a doctor may choose oxycodone or OxyContin.
In this article, we review the similarities and differences between oxycodone and OxyContin.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved oxycodone for the management of acute or chronic pain. As oxycodone is a narcotic, doctors will reserve this treatment for people who are living with moderate-to-severe pain and have found other medications ineffective.
Oxycodone is a narcotic prescription medication. Other prescription oral narcotics available for pain treatment include:
- codeine
- morphine
- hydromorphone
Among oral narcotic prescription medications, codeine is the least potent, and hydromorphone is the most potent. To compare different narcotic pain relievers, doctors convert the dose of the narcotic to the equivalent dose in morphine.
When switching a person from one type of narcotic to another, doctors must prescribe an equivalent dosage. The oxycodone-to-morphine dose equivalent ratio is approximately 1-to-1.5.
For people who find swallowing pills difficult, doctors may prescribe oxycodone in a liquidformulation. There are also some medications that combine oxycodone with other pain relievers, including acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and acetylsalicylic acid.
Oxycodone is an immediate-release tablet, so people can take this medication as necessary every 4–6 hours. The product information contains a warning about the risks of addiction, abuse, and misuse.
Some people require long-term narcotic therapy for pain. For these people, doctors should schedule regular follow-up visits. These visits should focus on reassessing the person’s level of pain and monitoring for signs of narcotic abuse.
OxyContin also contains the medicinal ingredient oxycodone, but it is in an extended-release formulation. These extended-release tablets offer longer lasting pain control than immediate-release oxycodone, which has a shorter effect on pain.
With the extended-release delivery system, the oxycodone in OxyContin provides continuous delivery over 12 hours. So, people take OxyContin twice daily.
The FDA approved OxyContin for the management of pain that is severe enough to require 24-hour pain relief. Doctors may prescribe OxyContin to someone experiencing severe, continuous pain for which no other treatments provide relief.
When doctors switch people from one narcotic to OxyContin, they must calculate the equivalent morphine dose. The OxyContin-to-morphine dose equivalent ratio is 1-to-2, which is slightly higher than that of the immediate-release oxycodone.
As with oxycodone, the product information for OxyContin contains an addiction, abuse, and misuse warning.
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