engleski

Pain management of chronic non-cancer pain with transdermal fentanyl

Aim of Investigation: Pain relief in chronic non-malignant pain trough the administration of transdermal Fentanyl – Durogesic TM. Methods: Twenty patients suffering from severe low back pain (15), and postherpetic neuralgia (5), resistant to all other therapies had been treated in the Pain Center with Durogesic patches, during a 3 months period. Starting with a patch of 25 mcg/hr in the first two weeks and continuing with 50 mcg/hr. All of our patients have been previously treated with non-steroid analgesics, weak opioids, acupuncture and physical therapy. Some of them with low back pain have been operated. The patients with postherpetic neuralgia were previously treated with carbamazepine, weak opioids, acupuncture or laser but without improvement. Results: Only 2 patients (10%) had to discontinue the treatment because of side effects (fatigue, somnolence, or dizziness). The remaining 18 patients (90%) have significantly improved their VAS scales (from 8-9 to 2-3) while only mild and transient side effects (nausea, constipation, sweating) were experienced by 4 of them (20%). Conclusion: Our experience within the group of treatment resistant pain patients showed that Durogesic represents highly efficacious therapeutic option while maintaining favorable safety profile.

ement;; Fentanil-Durogesic; chronic nonmalignant pain

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