Recent advances in opioid therapy

Abstract

Recent advances in opioid therapy regarding routes of delivery, long-acting preparations, and sequential trials are described. Specifically, the advantages and disadvantages of transdermal therapeutic system fentanyl, transmucosal fentanyl citrate, Kapanol (sustained-release morphine) and individual variability in the responses to different opioids are discussed in detail. Pain and the fear of pain are perhaps the greatest source of suffering. It is common sense to accept that many diseases still cannot be cured, yet the accompanying suffering real. Hence relief is very important. Very few medications surpass opioids in terms of their therapeutic efficacy, ease of application, and lack of organic toxicity. The question is not whether opioids are effective but how to use them rationally. Many patients fail to have adequate analgesia, simply because doctors under-prescribe opioids as a result of lack of knowledge about their optimal usage.