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Oxycodone Extended Release (OxyContin)

Opioidoral · predicted

Controlled-release oxycodone tablet providing biphasic 12-hour delivery for twice-daily dosing in opioid-tolerant patients. Swallow whole; crushing or chewing defeats the controlled-release mechanism and can deliver a fatal dose.

Projected serum levels — 10 mg, once daily

Oxycodone Extended Release (OxyContin)
Oxycodone Extended Release (OxyContin) modeled serum levels, 10 mg once daily over 15 days Population-based pharmacokinetic estimate. Steady state reached after approximately 1 days. 0 0.50 1 1.5 2 Day 0 Day 4 Day 8 Day 11 Day 15 Time on a regular schedule ≈ steady state · day 1

Maintenance schedule: 10 mg once daily (oral).

Modeled steady state after ~1 days: peak ≈ 1.2 mg, trough ≈ 0.020 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a 10 mg dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.

Key facts

Category
Opioid
Route modeled
Oral
Model confidence
predicted
Half-life
4.5 h
Common dose
10 mg
Suggested maximum
80 mg/day
Reference dose range
10–80 mg (single dose)
Suggested cadence
once daily

Research behind this entry

  1. Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Oral Oxycodone in Healthy Human Subjects: Role of Circulating Active Metabolites Lalovic B et al. · Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2006 DOI

    Evaluated oxycodone and oxymorphone pharmacokinetics in healthy subjects, finding CYP2D6-generated oxymorphone has 40-fold higher mu-opioid affinity but low plasma concentrations.

  2. Updated Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Oxycodone Kinnunen M et al. · Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 2019 DOI

    Comprehensive update on oxycodone PK/PD covering absorption, distribution, CYP2D6/CYP3A4 metabolism to oxymorphone and noroxycodone, and genetic polymorphism effects on clinical outcomes.

  3. Effect of Opioid vs Nonopioid Medications on Pain-Related Function in Patients With Chronic Back Pain or Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: The SPACE Randomized Clinical Trial Krebs EE et al. · JAMA, 2018 DOI

    12-month RCT of 240 veterans found opioids (including oxycodone) were NOT superior to non-opioid therapy for pain-related function in chronic back/hip/knee pain; pain intensity was actually worse in the opioid group.

  4. CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain - United States, 2022 Dowell D et al. · MMWR Recommendations and Reports, 2022 DOI

    Updated CDC guideline recommending non-opioid therapies as first-line for chronic pain, with individualised risk assessment if opioids used; reflects evidence that long-term opioid benefit for non-cancer pain is poorly…

4 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.