People who use fentanyl patches to relieve severe and long-lasting pain should avoid using an electric blanket near a patch or sunbathing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.
Lin Chih-peng (林至芃), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s department of anesthesiology, said a man in his 50s with advanced pancreatic cancer had suffered severe pain and was prescribed fentanyl patches by his doctor to relieve the pain.
However, after the man slept under an electric blanket while wearing the patches, his family had difficulty waking him up the next morning.
Lin said fentanyl is an opioid pain medication that works fast, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and is often used for pain management during surgery, for advanced-stage cancer, and for patients with chronic and severe pain.
However, fentanyl can be addictive and overdosing can have serious effects, including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sleepiness and even death by respiratory depression.
It is listed as a second-grade controlled substance that can only be prescribed by physicians.
Liu Chia-ping (劉佳萍), a section chief at the FDA’s Division of Controlled Drugs, said the use of fentanyl medication has increased 2.2 times from 2002 to 2014, most of which is through fentanyl patches, and sales of the patches in Taiwan have reached 700,000 per year
“Possible reasons for the large demand are the rapidly aging population and the increasing number of people with cancer,” she said, adding that many patients have misconceptions about the proper use of the patches.
Patients should strictly follow their doctor’s prescription, not cut or damage the patch and apply the patch on a clean, dry and flat stretch of skin above the waistline with as little hair as possible and with no wounds, Lin said, adding that doctors will usually tell patients to apply the patch to their chest.
She said patients should also avoid applying heat over a patch, because it significantly increases the rate of drug absorption, which can also lead to adverse side effects from overdose.
Patients are strongly urged to remove patches after three days and remember to fold them in half with the sticky side on the inside after removal, keep them wrapped up in a bag and return them to pharmacies or hospitals for proper disposal.
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