Efficacy of fentanyl transdermal patch in the treatment of chronic soft tissue cancer pain

Abstract

Background: Cancer pain may be a major problem for health care providers worldwide. According to different studies reporting the pain severity, one-third of patients reported to have moderate to severe pain. Management of cancer pain is one of the most important goals of palliative care. Recently, different research results on the efficacy of opioid analgesics in chronic pain management have played a role to implement standards in pain control by government agencies worldwide. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of fentanyl transdermal patch in the treatment of chronic soft tissue cancer pain. Patients and Methods: In a prospective descriptive study, we evaluated 86 patients with soft tissue tumors with chronic pain referred to cancer institute of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran, during 2006-2007. For all patients, transdermal fentanyl patch (25 μg/h) was administered. The appearance of patches was the same. Pain severity was measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) initially and 24, 48 and 72 hours after the initiation of treatment. Results: Patients' characteristics and VAS score before the treatment were not significantly different (P > 0.05). According to our findings, the pain severity was significantly reduced after the treatment (P = 0.001). The incidence of adverse events in patients was significantly high (72%). The most common adverse events were sleepiness, nausea and vomiting in 30.2% and 18.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Transdermal fentanyl patch was an effective and safe method to reduce pain in patients with soft tissue tumors. Moreover, it could improve the quality of life in these patients, but adverse events occurred in approximately 72% of patients.