title: Transdermal buprenorphine in children with cancer-related pain.
abstract: We present three cases of children (aged 3-5 years) in which cancer-related pain was adequately controlled by Transdermal Buprenorphine. The endpoints for evaluating analgesic efficacy consisted of the assessment of pain using a visual scale and the possibility of reducing other pain treatment. Improvement of pain level was demonstrated by the decrease in pain scores, by reduction of the overall amount of medications, especially opioids, and by improvement of uninterrupted sleep. Only limited data is available on the use of Transdermal Buprenorphine in children. In our experience, Transdermal Buprenorphine allowed good analgesia without significant side effects in these three children with cancer-related pain.
authors.affiliation: Division of Paediatric Oncology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. gioatt@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Attinà
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruggiero
authors.forename: Palma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maurizi
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arlotta
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiaretti
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riccardi
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002047:Buprenorphine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D002047:Buprenorphine