Fentanyl Iontophoretic Transdermal System: A Review in Acute Postoperative Pain

Fentanyl iontophoretic transdermal system (ITS) [Ionsys(®)] is indicated for the management of acute postoperative pain in adults requiring opioid analgesia in the hospital setting. This article reviews the clinical use of fentanyl ITS for postoperative pain management, and summarizes the pharmacology of fentanyl and the characteristics of the two-component fentanyl ITS (Ionsys(®)) device. In well-designed, multicentre clinical trials, fentanyl ITS was an effective and generally well tolerated method for managing acute postoperative pain in inpatients who had undergone major abdominal, thoracic or orthopaedic surgery. Overall, fentanyl ITS provided equivalent analgesic efficacy to that with morphine patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA), but was perceived to be more convenient/easier to use than morphine PCIA by patients, nurses and physical therapists. Patients receiving fentanyl ITS also had a greater ability to mobilize after surgery than patients receiving morphine PCIA. In addition, relative to morphine PCIA, fentanyl ITS offers advantages in terms of the noninvasive administrative route (i.e. transdermal needle-free administration), pre-programmed delivery (no risk of programming errors/incorrect dosing) and improved tolerability with regard to the overall incidence of opioid-related adverse events (ORAEs) and some individual ORAEs. Hence, fentanyl ITS is a useful option for the management of acute postoperative pain in adults requiring opioid analgesia in the hospital setting.