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BACKGROUND

Acute pain, resulting from trauma and other causes, is a common condition that imposes a need for prehospital analgesia on and off the battlefield. The narcotic most frequently used for prehospital analgesia on the battlefield during the past century has been morphine. Intramuscular morphine has a delayed onset of pain relief that is suboptimal and difficult to titrate. Although intravenously administered morphine can readily provide rapid and effective prehospital analgesia, oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) is a safe alternative that does not require intravenous access. This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of OTFC in the prehospital battlefield environment.

METHODS

Data collected during combat deployments (Afghanistan and Iraq) from March 15, 2003, to March 31, 2010, were analyzed. Patients were US Army Special Operations Command casualties. Patients receiving OTFC for …