Expert Consensus
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 26, 2021; 9(9): 2110-2122
Published online Mar 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i9.2110
Expert consensus of the Chinese Association for the Study of Pain on pain treatment with the transdermal patch
Ke Ma, Wei Jiang, Yun-Xia Wang, Lin Wang, Yan Lv, Jin-Feng Liu, Rong-Guo Liu, Hui Liu, Li-Zu Xiao, Dong-Ping Du, Li-Juan Lu, Xiao-Qiu Yang, Ling-Jie Xia, Dong Huang, Zhi-Jian Fu, Bao-Gan Peng, Yan-Qing Liu
Ke Ma, Department of Algology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China
Wei Jiang, Department of Anesthesiology, Third Medical Center of People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing 100039, China
Yun-Xia Wang, Department of Algology, The Third People’s Hospital of Hubei Province, Hubei Zhongshan Hospital, Wuhan 430033, Hubei Province, China
Lin Wang, Department of Algology, Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, Guizhou Province, China
Yan Lv, Department of Algology, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Jin-Feng Liu, Department of Algology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang Province, China
Rong-Guo Liu, Department of Algology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fuzhou 350001, Fujian Province, China
Hui Liu, Department of Algology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Li-Zu Xiao, Department of Algology, Shenzhen Sixth People’s Hospital (Nanshan Hospital), Shenzhen 518000, Guangdong Province, China
Dong-Ping Du, Department of Algology, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200233, China
Li-Juan Lu, Department of Algology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Xiao-Qiu Yang, Department of Algology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Ling-Jie Xia, Department of Algology, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Dong Huang, Department of Algology, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China
Zhi-Jian Fu, Department of Algology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, Shandong Province, China
Bao-Gan Peng, Department of Orthopedics, The Third Medical Center, General Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing 100039, China
Yan-Qing Liu, Department of Algology, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this work; Liu YQ and Ma K are considered as the co-corresponding authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ke Ma, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Algology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 1665 Kongjiang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200092, China. marke72@163.com
Received: November 30, 2020
Peer-review started: November 30, 2020
First decision: January 29, 2021
Revised: February 14, 2021
Accepted: March 9, 2021
Article in press: March 9, 2021
Published online: March 26, 2021
Abstract

Chronic pain lasting more than 3 mo, or even several years can lead to disability. Treating chronic pain safely and effectively is a critical challenge faced by clinicians. Because administration of analgesics through oral, intravenous or intramuscular routes is not satisfactory, research toward percutaneous delivery has gained interest. The transdermal patch is one such percutaneous delivery system that can deliver drugs through the skin and capillaries at a certain rate to achieve a systemic or local therapeutic effect in the affected area. It has many advantages including ease of administration and hepatic first pass metabolism avoidance as well as controlling drug delivery, which reduces the dose frequency and side effects. If not required, then the patch can be removed from the skin immediately. The scopolamine patch was the first transdermal patch to be approved for the treatment of motion sickness by the Food and Drug Administration in 1979. From then on, the transdermal patch has been widely used to treat many diseases. To date, no guidelines or consensus are available on the use of analgesic drugs through transdermal delivery. The pain branch of the Chinese Medical Association, after meeting and discussing with experts and based on clinical evidence, developed a consensus for promoting and regulating standard use of transdermal patches containing analgesic drugs.

Keywords: Transdermal drug delivery systems, Pain, Transdermal patches, Topical, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Analgesics

Core Tip: Currently no international guidelines or consensus are available on the treatment of pain using transdermal patches. With the help of experts and based on recent clinical evidence, the pain branch of the Chinese Medical Association formulated China’s expert consensus on “transdermal pain treatment in China,” while considering China’s national conditions with a view to regulate and promote the standardized use of the transdermal patch containing analgesic drugs.