Narcotic dosage converter. Morphine, codeine, fentanyl, dilaudid, darvocet, hydrocodone, hydromorphone

Narcotic Converter (PC Desktop) (Internet download)

Narcotic conversion tool. If you are involved in pain management, this is a great tool to have on your desktop.

Free updates for your CURRENT device only.

New Features

Ability to edit equi-analgesic conversion factors if necessary in order to reflect any changes in the literature.

Print summary function (advanced version): prints out a summary of all choices that you made and the final calculator output.

Option for converting final output into an equivalent fentanyl patch strength as long as published guidelines exist for the current dose.

Ability to choose up to 3 different opiates to convert to a final opiate.

Ability to reduce the final output based on incomplete cross-tolerance. Several choices are available based on the clinical needs of the patient.

Methadone conversion algorithms.

Try before you Buy! Before purchasing, download a demo version to make sure the program meets your needs. The demo is a full version of the program that expires in 14 days. Download

After testing the program on your computer, use this link to purchase the program: BUY NOW for $27.95

After you purchase the program, you must register the program here to eliminate the demo mode. You will need your Unique 10 digit code found in the Narcotic converter application.

Larger screen shot

First step: Under 'Converting from' select the first opiate you want converted. Under 'Converting to' select the opiate you want to convert to.

Second step: (optional) You can select additional opiates to convert in addition to what was selected under 'Converting from' on the first screen. This option is perfect for patients on multiple opiates and you would like to convert the patient to a single opiate.

Third step: You may modify the equianalgesic conversion factors if necessary.

Methadone dosing options: (1) Hybrid method (2) Morley and Makin method

Methadone conversion algorithm - User-adjusted Hybrid method: With this method, you will be able to modify the conversion ratios used to convert from other opiates to methadone. Several dosage ranges (e.g. 0-99 mg, 100-299mg, ...) and the corresponding ratio used to convert from morphine equivalents (mg) to methadone are listed. If you disagree with the default settings, simply select a different ratio using the drop-down menu. Simply select the ratio that you feel is the most appropriate.

Morley and Makin Method1: This method recommends giving methadone that is equal to one-tenth of the calculated morphine equivalents (mg), every 3 hours as needed (maximum of 8 doses/day). On the sixth day, the average total daily dose is calculated from the number of doses needed on days 4 and 5. This information is used to formulate the maintenance dose. After this time, a short-acting opiate may still be required for breakthrough pain. Five or Six days of titration are usually adequate for most patients. IMPORTANT: The initial titration dosage is limited to 30mg when the calculated morphine equivalents is greater than 300mg.

1. Morley, JS, Makin, MK,: The use of methadone in cancer pain poorly responsive to other opioids. Pain Reviews. 1998, 5: 51-58.

2. Ripamonti C, Groff L, Brunelli C, Polastri D, Stavrakis A, De Conno F. Switching from morphine to oral methadone in treating cancer pain: what is the equianalgesic dose ratio? J Clin Oncol 1998 Oct;16(10):3216-21 "A median time of 3 days (range, 1 to 7 days) was necessary to achieve the equianalgesia with oral methadone; the lower the preswitching morphine dose, the fewer days necessary to achieve equianalgesia with oral methadone (P < .001). Dose ratios ranged from 2.5:1 to 14.3:1 (median, 7.75:1)"

System requirements: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, or XP. Also, Microsoft's® Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater must be installed on your system.