an efficacy and safety study of transdermal therapeutic system (tts)-fentanyl in thai participants with chronic non-malignant pain

Conditions: Chronic Pain

Summary: the purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transdermal therapeutic system (tts)-fentanyl patch (transdermal patch containing a drug that is put on the skin so the drug will enter the body through the skin) in thai participants with chronic (lasting a long time) non-malignant (non-cancerous) pain.

this is an open label (all people know the identity of the intervention), single arm study to assess the efficacy and safety of tts-fentanyl in thai participants with chronic non-malignant pain (except for headaches or central spinal cord mediated pain). the study will consist of 2 phases: stabilization phase (up to 7 days before starting the treatment) and treatment phase (30 days). the first patch will be applied by investigator then by participants themselves until 30 days. all participants will start the treatment with patch releasing 25 micrograms per hour (mcg/h) of fentanyl . the patches will be replaced every 3 days. on day 3, and every 3 days thereafter, the tts-fentanyl dose can be titrated (slow increase in drug dosage, guided by participant's responses) as per participant's need. the duration of the treatment will be 30 days after first patch application. the dose of tts-fentanyl can be slowly increased if needed, by 25 mcg/h to achieve adequate pain control. no increase in tts-fentanyl dose will be performed within the 72-hour dosing interval. participants will be allowed the use of oral morphine syrup for the duration of tts-fentanyl treatment to enable appropriate tts-fentanyl dose titration. primary efficacy assessment will be pain control rated by participants. assessment time points will be day 0 (baseline), day 15 and day 30 (trial end). at the end of study, global preference on efficacy, side effects and overall satisfaction will also be rated by investigator and participants. participants' safety will be monitored throughout the study.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * participants with chronic non-malignant pain (of any etiology except for headaches or central spinal cord mediated pain) with moderate (medium level of seriousness) to severe (very serious, life threatening) pain that requires treatment with a potent opioid * participants must also be currently treated with short or long acting opioid medications other than transdermal therapeutic system (tts)-fentanyl at a dose less than or equal to 134 milligram per day (mg/day) of oral morphine (or an equianalgesic dose of another opioid), participants may have been treated with tts-fentanyl in the past * participants who had side effects after receiving non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (nsaids) * participants who failed from other treatments such as operation or lack of efficacy of current treatment * participants with spinal cord stimulators may enroll, provided that they turn the spinal cord stimulator off for the duration of the trial, or leave it continually on for the duration of the trial exclusion criteria: * history of allergy, hypersensitivity, or lack of ability to tolerate fentanyl * skin disease that precludes the use of the transdermal system or which could affect the absorption of fentanyl or local tolerability * history or suspicion of alcohol or drug abuse within the past 5 years * history of narcotic (strong habit-forming drug that stops pain and depresses the central nervous system) therapy * pregnancy or breast-feeding female

Keywords: chronic pain chronic non-malignant pain tts-fentanyl durogesic