抄録
Two oral transmucosal fentanyl formulations have been approved in Japan, a buccal tablet and a sublingual tablet. Both these dosage forms take effect rapidly and can be used for patients with cancer-related pain who have difficulty swallowing and taking oral medications; however, few patients have used these formulations, and suitable patient education by medical staff is needed. In addition, rapid-onset opioids might not reach their efficacy potential if administered improperly, and understanding individual patient needs with regard to treatment could affect subsequent evaluations of efficacy. Thus, the treating staff must work with their patients to maximize the proper use of such medicines. In our experience, the sublingual （S） tablet disintegrated in less than 1 minute, while the buccal （B） tablet took considerably longer, about 14 minutes. Moreover, the S tablet was easier to handle, had more favorable user impressions, and had little scattering in the disintegration time, all of which are clinically useful features. We collected further information that would be valuable for patient education, including tablet size and ease of opening the sheet （package） and removing the tablet. Furthermore, to promote proper use of the tablet by the patient, we explain the standard timing of the drug’s effectiveness, the need for proper handling of the drug, and attributes such as flavor, to minimize patient anxiety. The user impressions obtained in this study along with knowledge of product characteristics will improve patient education by medical staff and thus promote the medicines’ proper use.
