The efficacy of fentanyl for pain management in emergency department: a review

Abstract

Fentanyl is a strong opioid and it is widely used for pain relief. In this review, we evaluated the efficacy of fentanyl in pain management in the emergency department. For this review, we searched scientific search engines including google, google scholar, Cochrane library, Medline, and PubMed and collected original articles, including randomized controlled trials, comparative studies, cohort and case series related to fentanyl and its administration in the emergency department from 2010 to 2016. In this review, 8 articles and 44493 patients were evaluated. Four articles were retrospective and 4 articles were prospective of these four articles were a randomized placebo-controlled and double-blinded. Among eight, six articles compared the efficacy and adverse events of fentanyl with other opioids. We found fentanyl significantly decreases pain intensity in the patient with acute pain in the emergency department. Moreover, it is more effective than morphine and methoxyflurane.