Transdermal Fentanyl

That pain is a serious clinical problem, which requires
considerable effortsby physicians and the nursing staff,
has been stressed in numerous publications. Transdermal
application is well known for a variety of drugs, including
cardiovascular drugs, antiemetics and hormones. Some years
ago, first experience was also made with transdermally
administered opiates from which the transdermal therapeutic
system (TTS) fentanyl has now been approved by the American
Food and Drug Administration.
The book presents the results of the first international
workshop "Transdermal Fentanyl", held September 27 -28,
1990 in Cologne, FRG. This workshop was intended to
facilitate a critical evaluation of theoretical and clinical
studies with the new, non-invasive fentanyl application and
to provide an opportunity for an exchange of ideas about its
value for pain management, anaesthesiology and future
investigations in this field. Topics covered by the book are
physiology of transdermal permeation, experience with other
transdermal systems, the present state of acute and chronic
pain management and experimental and clinical studies with
transdermal fentanyl, with special concern to analgesic
efficacy and side effects.
Readers will easily find out that the experts appreciated
transdermal analgesia but also warned against an uncritical
optimism. TTS fentanyl can be a valuable tool in the
clinicians' armentarium against pain. It should be kept in
mind, however, that it represents a new administration mode,
not a new drug, and that the sustained, non-invasive
application requires well reflected diagnosis and good
general standards of pain management.