Abstract
Opioids are essential for the treatment of pain, which is a serious symptom for children and adolescents affected by cancer. Intranasal opioids may be very useful for the treatment of breakthrough pain in children and adolescents with cancer, for their little invasiveness, ease of administration, rapid onset of action, and high bioavailability. Intranasal drug delivery may be influenced by anatomical and physiological factors (nasal mucosa absorption area, mucociliary clearance, enzymatic activity, anatomical anomalies, chronic or inflammatory alterations of nasal mucosa), drug-related factors (molecular weight, solubility), and delivery device. Fentanyl is a lipophilic opioid commonly proposed for intranasal use among pediatric patients, but no studies have been conducted yet about intranasal use of other available opioids for management of pediatric cancer pain. In this review, we analyze several elements which may influence absorption of intranasal opioids in children and adolescents, with a focus on pharmacokinetics and therapeutic aspects of each opioid currently available for intranasal use.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Mercadante S (2004) Cancer pain management in children. Palliat Med 18:654–662
Ruggiero A, Coccia P, Arena R, Maurizi P, Battista A, Ridola V, Attinà G, Riccardi R (2013) Efficacy and safety of transdermal buprenorphine in the management of children with cancer-related pain. Pediatr Blood Cancer 60:433–437
Murphy A, O'Sullivan R, Wakai A et al (2014) Intranasal fentanyl for the management of acute pain in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 10(10):CD009942. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009942.pub2
Del Pizzo J, Callahan JM (2014) Intranasal medications in pediatric emergency medicine. Pediatr Emerg Care 30(7):496–501; quiz 502–4. https://doi.org/10.1097/PEC.0000000000000171
Morrison EE, Costanzo RM (1990) Morphology of the human olfactory epithelium. J Comp Neurol 297(1):1–13
Salib RJ, Harries PG, Nair SB, Howarth PH (2008) Mechanisms and mediators of nasal symptoms in non-allergic rhinitis. Clin Exp Allergy 38(3):393–404
Newman SP, Morén F, Clarke SW (1987) Deposition pattern from a nasal pump spray. Rhinology 25(2):77–82
Wolfe TR, Braude DA (2010) Intranasal medication delivery for children: a brief review and update. Pediatrics 126(3):532–537
Costantino HR, Illum L, Brandt G, Johnson PH, Quay SC (2007) Intranasal delivery: physicochemical and therapeutic aspects. Int J Pharm 337(1–2):1–24
Arora P, Sharma S, Garg S (2002) Permeability issues in nasal drug delivery. Drug Discov Today 7(18):967–975
Kurkov SV, Loftsson T (2013) Cyclodextrins. Int J Pharm 453(1):167–180
Jiang L, Gao L, Wang X, Tang L, Ma J (2010) The application of mucoadhesive polymers in nasal drug delivery. Drug Dev Ind Pharm 36(3):323–336
Zhang X, Zhang QY, Liu D et al (2005) Expression of cytochrome p450 and other biotransformation genes in fetal and adult human nasal mucosa. Drug Metab Dispos 33:1423–1428
Pandey RK, Bahetwar SK, Saksena AK, Chandra G (2011) A comparative evaluation of drops versus atomized administration of intranasal ketamine for the procedural sedation of young uncooperative pediatric dental patients: a prospective crossover trial. J Clin Pediatr Dent Fall 36(1):79–84
Leow KP, Smith MT, Watt JA, Williams BE, Cramond T (1992) Comparative oxycodone pharmacokinetics in humans after intravenous, oral, and rectal administration. Ther Drug Monit 14:479–484
Tong X, Dong J, Shang Y, Inthavong K, Tu J (2016) Effects of nasal drug delivery device and its orientation on sprayed particle deposition in a realistic human nasal cavity. Comput Biol Med 1(77):40–48
Mercadante S, Portenoy RK (2016) Breakthrough cancer pain: twenty-five years of study. Pain 157(12):2657–2663
Westerling D, Persson C, Hoglund P (1995) Plasma concentrations of morphine, morphine-3-glucuronide, and morphine-6-glucuronide after intravenous and oral administration to healthy volunteers: relationship to nonanalgesic actions. Ther Drug Monit 17:287–301
Illum L, Watts P, Fisher AN et al (2002) Intranasal delivery of morphine. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 301:391–400
Pavis H, Wilcock A, Edgecombe J, Carr D, Manderson C, Church A, Fisher A (2002) Pilot study of nasal morphine–chitosan for the relief of breakthrough pain in patients with cancer. J Pain Symptom Manag 24:598–602
Stoker DG, Reber KR, Waltzman LS, Ernst C, Hamilton D, Gawarecki D, Mermelstein F, McNicol E, Wright C, Carr DB (2008) Analgesic efficacy and safety of morphine–chitosan nasal solution in patients with moderate to severe pain following orthopedic surgery. Pain Med 9:3–12
Takala A, Kaasalainen V, Seppala T, Kalso E, Olkkola KT (1997) Pharmacokinetic comparison of intravenous and intranasal administration of oxycodone. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 41:309–312
Lofwall MR, Moody DE, Fang WB, Nuzzo PA, Walsh SL (2012) Pharmacokinetics of intranasal crushed OxyContin and intravenous oxycodone in nondependent prescription opioid abusers. J Clin Pharmacol 52:600–606
Coda BA, Rudy AC, Archer SM, Wermeling DP (2003) Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of single-dose intranasal hydromorphone hydrochloride in healthy volunteers. Anesth Analg 97:117–123
Wermeling DP, Clinch T, Rudy AC, Dreitlein D, Suner S, Lacouture PG (2010) A multicenter, open-label, exploratory doseranging trial of intranasal hydromorphone for managing acute pain from traumatic injury. J Pain 11:24–31
Kaasa S, Moksnes K, Nolte T et al (2010) Pharmacokinetics of intranasal fentanyl spray in patients with cancer and breakthrough pain. J Opioid Manag 6:17–26
Kress HG, Oronska A, Kaczmarek Z et al (2009) Efficacy and tolerability of intranasal fentanyl spray 50 to 200 microg for breakthrough pain in patients with cancer: a phase III, multinational, randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with a 10-month, open-label extension treatment period. Clin Ther 31:1177–1191
Christrup LL, Foster D, Popper L, Troen T, Upton R (2008) Pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and tolerability of fentanyl following intranasal versus intravenous administration in adults undergoing third-molar extraction: a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, two-way, cross-over study. Clin Ther 30:469–481
Fisher A, Watling M, Smith A, Knight A (2010) Pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of fentanyl pectin nasal spray 100–800 mcg in healthy volunteers. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 48:860–867
Fisher A, Watling M, Smith A, Knight A (2010) Pharmacokinetic comparisons of three nasal fentanyl formulations; pectin, chitosan and chitosan–poloxamer 188. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 48:138–145
Nave R, Sides EH, Colberg T et al. (2009) Pharmacokinetics of intranasal fentanyl spray (INFS) in subjects with common cold. 6th congress of the European federation of IASP chapters, Lisbon
Borland ML, Bergesio R, Pascoe EM, Turner S, Woodger S (2005) Intranasal fentanyl is an equivalent analgesic to oral morphine in paediatric burns patients for dressing changes: a randomised double blind crossover study. Burns 31:831–837
Mudd S (2011) Intranasal fentanyl for pain management in children: a systematic review of the literature. J Pediatr Healthcare 25:316–322
Hansen MS, Mathiesen O, Trautner S et al (2012) Intranasal fentanyl in the treatment of acute pain: a systematic review. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 56:407–419
Verghese ST, Hannallah RS, Brennan M, Yarvitz JL, Hummer KA, Patel KM, He J, McCarter R (2008) The effect of intranasal administration of remifentanil on intubating conditions and airway response after sevoflurane induction of anesthesia in children. Anesth Analg 107:1176–1118
Lundeberg S, Roelofse JA (2011) Aspects of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of sufentanil in pediatric practice. Paediatr Anaesth 21(3):274–279
Karl HW, Keifer AT, Rosenberge JL et al (1992) Comparison of the safety and efficacy of intranasal midazolam or sufentanil for preinduction of anesthesia in pediatric patients. Anesthesiology 76(2):209–215
Zedie N, Amory DW, Wagner BK, O’Hara DA (1996) Comparison of intranasal midazolam and sufentanil premedication in pediatric outpatients. Clin Pharmacol Ther 59(3):341–348
Nielsen BN, Friis SM, Romsing J et al (2014) Intranasal sufentanil/ketamine analgesia inchildren. Paediatr Anaesth 24(2):170–180
Barton ED, Colwell CB, Wolfe T, Fosnocht D, Gravitz C, Bryan T, Dunn W, Benson J, Bailey J (2005) Efficacy of intranasal naloxone as a needleless alternative for treatment of opioid overdose in the prehospital setting. J Emerg Med 29:265–271
Dowling J, Isbister GK, Kirkpatrick CM, Naidoo D, Graudins A (2008) Population pharmacokinetics of intravenous, intramuscular, and intranasal naloxone in human volunteers. Ther Drug Monit 30:490–496
Vanky E, Hellmundt L, Bondesson U, Eksborg S, Lundeberg S (2017) Pharmacokinetics after a single dose of naloxone administered as a nasal spray in healthy volunteers. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand 61(6):636–640
Funding
This work was supported by Fondazione per l’Oncologia Pediatrica.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Triarico, S., Capozza, M.A., Mastrangelo, S. et al. Intranasal therapy with opioids for children and adolescents with cancer: results from clinical studies. Support Care Cancer 27, 3639–3645 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04854-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04854-6