TY - JOUR T1 - Barriers to the use of buccal and intranasal fentanyl for breakthrough pain in paediatric palliative care: an exploratory survey JF - BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care JO - BMJ Support Palliat Care SP - 355 LP - 356 DO - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2017-001413 VL - 8 IS - 3 AU - Emily Harrop AU - Liz Jamieson AU - Tsun Ho Choy AU - Wing Hei Phoebe Ho AU - Ian C K Wong Y1 - 2018/09/01 UR - http://spcare.bmj.com/content/8/3/355.abstract N2 - We recently administered a survey to investigate the prescribing of buccal and intranasal fentanyl for breakthrough pain in paediatric palliative care in the UK.A Cochrane review did not find any evidence for how breakthrough pain should be managed in palliative care.1 Meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials have demonstrated increased efficacy of fentanyl compared with oral morphine,2 while pharmacokinetic studies highlight the onset and duration properties of fentanyl dosage forms that might be beneficial to certain patients experiencing breakthrough pain. Various dosage forms of fentanyl have been licenced for use in breakthrough cancer pain in adults, but UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2012) guidelines addressing strong opioid use in palliative care patients state that fentanyl should not be offered as first-line rescue medication. A lack of paediatric data for commercially available fentanyl transmucosal application systems means these products have traditionally not been recommended for first-line use in children.The aim of this survey was to investigate current off-label prescribing of fentanyl for breakthrough pain relief in paediatric palliative care and to ascertain any barriers to use. This is timely as one of the research recommendations in the NICE guidelines (2016) on end of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions related to managing breakthrough pain.3 An anonymous online survey was delivered via Qualtrics to … ER -