Pooled Phase III Safety Analysis of Sufentanil Sublingual Tablets for Short-Term Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Acute Pain

Abstract

<b>Aim:</b> To evaluate the pooled safety of sufentanil sublingual tablets (SSTs) administered at 30-mcg dose equivalents over ≤72 h for moderate-to-severe acute pain management in medically supervised settings. <b>Patients & methods:</b> Safety data from SST 30 mcg Phase III studies were pooled with an additional patient subset from studies in which two SST 15 mcg were self-administered within 20-25 min (30-mcg dose-equivalent). <b>Results:</b> Analyses included 804 patients. Median (range) SST 30-mcg dosing over 24 h was 7.0 (1-15) tablets. Adverse events (AEs) were experienced by 60.5% (SST) and 61.4% (placebo) and treatment-related AEs by 43.8% (SST) and 33.5% (placebo; 10.3% difference; 95% CI: 2.0-18.6) of patients. No dose-dependent increase in oxygen desaturation was observed with SST. <b>Conclusion:</b> SST was well-tolerated, with most AEs considered mild or moderate in severity.