Poor adhesion of fentanyl transdermal patches may mimic end-of-dosage failure after 48 hours and prompt early patch replacement in hospitalized cancer pain patients

摘要

ContextRenewal of fentanyl transdermal patch (transdermal therapeutic system [TTS]) should occur every 3 days (72 hours) according to manufacturer’s guidelines. Some studies mentioned patients reporting end-of-dose failure, and thus, some authors recommend shortening the interval of application to 2 days (48 hours). However, reasons for early replacement are mostly unknown.