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Mucositis

Transdermal fentanyl in HSCT patients: an open trial using transdermal fentanyl for the treatment of oral mucositis pain

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 33, pages 1247–1251 (2004)Cite this article

Summary:

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be delivered through a transdermal therapeutic system (TTS). The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of fentanyl TTS in treating oral mucositis pain in 75 adult hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients. The analysis was based on 62 patients who developed mucositis. Pain control was assessed by the patients using a visual analogue scale (VAS) from day 0 to day +33 after HSCT. Fentanyl TTS was administered at the patient's request. In all, 20 patients did not require fentanyl (group A). The first 22 patients asking for the patch received fentanyl 25 μg/h (group B) and the subsequent 20 patients received 50 μg/h (group C). There were no significant differences in pain relief between groups B and C. The expected effect of a decrease in mean pain score (mean of the VAS scores of all of the patients in the same group each day) following the application of fentanyl TTS was not noted. We can conclude that fentanyl TTS at the doses used in this study may not adequately relieve oral mucositis pain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Unit of Oral Pathology and Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Milan, Milano, Italy

    F Demarosi, G Lodi, A Sardella & A Carrassi

  2. Bone Marrow Transplant Center, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore, University of Milan, Milano, Italy

    D Soligo, A Della Volpe & G Lambertenghi Deliliers

Authors
  1. F Demarosi
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  2. G Lodi
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  3. D Soligo
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  4. A Sardella
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  5. A Della Volpe
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  6. A Carrassi
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  7. G Lambertenghi Deliliers
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Correspondence to F Demarosi.

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Demarosi, F., Lodi, G., Soligo, D. et al. Transdermal fentanyl in HSCT patients: an open trial using transdermal fentanyl for the treatment of oral mucositis pain. Bone Marrow Transplant 33, 1247–1251 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1704515

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