The role of transdermal opioids
Findings
Transdermal fentanyl and buprenorphine deliverysystems enable slow increase of drug plasma levels withvery long apparent half-lives (several days) and a longlatent period before pharmacological steady states arereached.48 The uses of these preparations as fi rst-choicestep III opioid or as alternatives to step II opioids havebeen debated. Titration must be done according to theapparent drug half-life—ie, every 3 days with use ofimmediate-release opioids in the interim.