Clinical drug investigation
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy and safety of sublingual fentanyl tablets for the management of breakthrough pain in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain with neuropathic component: multicenter prospective study.
Despite its prevalence and impact, breakthrough pain (BTP) in chronic non-cancer pain with neuropathic component, has not been well studied and is sometimes unrecognized and often undertreated. We evaluated the efficacy of sublingual fentanyl tablet (SLF) for the treatment of BTP in opioid-tolerant patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain with neuropathic component in terms of relief of pain intensity and assessed whether hypothetical pain relief impacts on quality of life (QoL). ⋯ SLF provides significant reductions in BTP intensity. The results of the BPI and EQ-5D assessments indicate that pain relief is associated with improvement of functioning and enhancement of QoL.