Expert consensus of the Chinese Association for the Study of Pain on pain treatment with the transdermal patch

Table 1 Advantages of transdermal drug delivery system administration

Advantages
Simple administration and improved patient compliance
Avoids hepatic first pass metabolism
Avoids direct interaction of drugs with food or other drugs in the gastrointestinal tract, which may affect drug absorption
Helps in controlled drug delivery and reduces frequency of dosing
Reduces dosage and side effects
Can be removed from the skin surface immediately
Has physical form, characteristics and identification marks so that it can be easily and quickly identified in an emergency (such as when the patient is unresponsive, unconscious or comatose)