Assessment of transdermal fentanyl combined with gabapentin for malignant neuropathic pain treatment / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the effect of transdermal fentanyl combined with gabapentin for the treatment of malignant neu-ropathic pain (MNP). Methods:A total of 60 patients with MNP were randomly divided into two groups. A total of 30 cases in the con-trol group received transdermal fentanyl according to the dosages of opioid medicine that patients used. Such dosages were gradually in-creased until the pain relief visual analogue scale (VAS) fell below 3 or until the times of breakthrough pain became less than 3. For the combined group, gabapentin was co-administered with transdermal fentanyl, similar to the control group. Initially, 100 mg of gabapen-tin was administered thrice a day. This dosage was gradually increased until pain relief. However, gabapentin dosages were kept below 2,400 mg a day. VAS, quality of life (QOL), degree of pain relief, dosages of fentanyl and morphine, and side effects were evaluated be-fore treatment and at one, two, three, and four weeks after the treatment. Results:Both groups exhibited lower VAS after treatment (P<0.05), but the difference was observed to be more significant in the combined group than that in the control group (P<0.05). Both groups exhibited improved QOL (P<0.05), which was observed to be more significant in the combined group than in the control group (P<0.05). The effective rate was 96.7%in the combined group and 83.3%in the control group. The dosage of opioid medicine and the side effects in the combined group were less than those in the control group. Conclusion:Transdermal fentanyl combined with gabapen-tin is effective for the treatment of malignant neuropathic pain.