Patent ID: 7910132

Claim:
A method of treating breakthrough pain in an individual receiving at least one analgesic for treatment of pain and experiencing the breakthrough pain comprising periods of inadequate analgesia, the method comprising providing a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically effective amount of fentanyl or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in a dosage form comprising a tablet sized for placement under a tongue, the fentanyl or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof comprising particles having a maximum weight based mean particle size of about 24 μm, the pharmaceutical composition also comprising a bioadhesion and/or mucoadhesion promoting agent constituted to promote adhesion of the fentanyl or the pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof to mucous membrane to allow an uptake of the fentanyl through mucous membrane under the tongue, and providing sublingual administration of the pharmaceutical composition to treat the breakthrough pain by placing the tablet under the tongue of the individual to allow the uptake of the fentanyl through the mucous membrane giving rise to a rapid update of the fentanyl within about five minutes.