Investigation of Result of Switching from Morphine to Fentanyl Patches

Fentanyl patches and oxycodon tablets are new forms of opioid that have recently been approved in Japan, and may be useful for opioid rotation. In this study, we investigated the result of switching from morphine to fentanyl patches, considering 257 cases in which fentanyl patches were prescribed at the Cancer Institute Hospital between March 19, 2002 and December 31, 2004.The major reasons for switching from morphine to fentanyl patches were poorly controlled pain in 106 cases (44%) and nausea in 78 cases (32%). Out of the total of 185 cases, fetanyl patches were prescribed for more than 2 weeks in 164 cases (88.6%). The use of fetanyl patches was stopped within 2 weeks of switching in some cases when the major reasons were drowsiness in 6 cases (28.6%) and poorly controlled pain in 4 cases (19.0%).The results of our study indicate that switching from morphine to fetanyl patches may be useful when pain is poorly controlled with morphine.