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Use of buccal morphine in the management of pain in children with life-limiting conditions: Results of a laboratory study

McCulloch, R; Sattar, M; Henderson, EM; Lane, ME; Bluebond-Langner, M; (2018) Use of buccal morphine in the management of pain in children with life-limiting conditions: Results of a laboratory study. Palliative Medicine , 32 (2) pp. 554-558. 10.1177/0269216317717192. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Children and infants with impaired swallow or compromised enteral absorption require alternative routes for administration of analgesia. Recent clinical guidance and practice for paediatric palliative care teams, who often treat such children, supports buccal morphine sulphate as a fast acting, effective and easily administered agent for pain relief. However, a consideration of the physicochemical properties and potency of morphine would suggest that it is not a suitable candidate for delivery via the transmucosal route, raising questions about its use in children and infants. AIM: To explore the permeability of buccal morphine sulphate in an established ex vivo porcine buccal mucosa as a necessary step in examining efficacy for use in children with life-limiting conditions and life-threatening illnesses. DESIGN: A permeation study conducted with morphine sulphate in an ex vivo porcine buccal tissue model. Flux values and pharmacokinetic data were used to calculate the plasma values of morphine that would result following buccal administration in a 20kg child. RESULTS: Results show that the estimated steady state plasma values of morphine sulphate following buccal administration in this model do not achieve minimum therapeutic concentration. CONCLUSION: These data strongly suggest that morphine sulphate is not suitable for buccal administration and that further research is needed to establish its efficacy in relief of pain in children with life-limiting conditions and life-threatening illnesses.

Type: Article
Title: Use of buccal morphine in the management of pain in children with life-limiting conditions: Results of a laboratory study
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/0269216317717192
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1177/0269216317717192
Language: English
Additional information: © The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Keywords: Morphine, buccal, child, ex vivo, pain, pharmacokinetics, porcine, solution
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Pharmaceutics
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1559237
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