Clinical journal of oncology nursing
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Review
The use of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate during high-dose-rate gynecologic brachytherapy.
Gynecologic brachytherapy is a form of cancer treatment in which radioactive sources are placed into the pelvic organs via specialized applicators. Traditional low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy has been performed over several days in a hospital setting. ⋯ The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) for the management of pain during gynecologic HDR brachytherapy. OTFC provides noninvasive, rapid analgesia with a low incidence of side effects and may be appropriate for other forms of procedure-related cancer pain.