Conditions: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Keywords: inhaled fentanyl dyspnea exercise COPD
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Enrollment: 16
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
Breathing discomfort (dyspnea) and activity limitation are dominant symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and contribute to poor health-related quality of life in this population. Several small, uncontrolled studies and published case reports have provided evidence that inhaled fentanyl, a powerful pain relieving (opioid) medication, may be used to effectively reduce breathing discomfort in patients with advanced disease. However, the mechanisms of this improvement remain unclear. Therefore, the investigators plan to conduct the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study designed to explore the possible mechanisms of action of inhaled fentanyl on activity-related dyspnea and exercise performance in patients with advanced COPD.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: nebulized 0.9% saline placebo arm 2: nebulized fentanyl citrate (50 mcg)

Interventions: intervention 1: fentanyl intervention 2: normal saline (placebo)
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: single dose, 50 mcg of nebulized fentanyl citrate intervention 2: single dose, 0.9% saline solution

Protocol document: