AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for use in medically supervised settings,announced the publication of an article reviewing the use of sufentanil sublingual tablet (SST; DSUVIA®) for pain medicine procedures by lead author Dr. Sarang Koushik in Current Pain and Headache Reports. Dr. Koushik is a board-certified anesthesiologist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.
Also Read-Exact Sciences Presents Colorectal Cancer Screening Solution for Patients
Dr. Koushik’s article entitled “A Review of Sublingual Sufentanil Tablet (SST) and its Utility as an Analgesic Agent for Pain Procedures” discusses the challenges presented by patients suffering from chronic pain who are undergoing pain medicine procedures. These patients often have difficult intravenous (IV) access due to repeated IV placements in the past. Furthermore, patients undergoing some of these procedures must provide real-time feedback to the physician performing the procedure which is difficult when the patient is over-sedated with IV sedative and analgesic drugs. The article highlights that the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians recently opined that IV propofol should not be used as a sedative for pain procedures due to its risk of deep sedation and side effect profile, especially in the elderly.
In addition to SST having a non-invasive route of administration, the review article lists additional characteristics of SST, including “high bioavailability with avoidance of first-pass hepatic metabolism, rapid drug equilibration between central and peripheral compartments, the lack of active metabolites and a high therapeutic index.” The article provides a detailed discussion of 23 published studies on SST assessing its safety and effectiveness in various medically supervised clinical settings. Lastly, the subject of SST as an option offering analgesia without the need for IV access or IV analgesics is discussed in the context of COVID-19-related social distancing requirements and drug shortages, as many IV sedatives and analgesics are on the FDA drug shortage list.
“In my experience, using SST as an analgesic for interventional procedures reduces the time and effort expended in obtaining IV access which can sometimes be challenging,” states Dr. Koushik. “At the recent American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Fall Meeting in November we reported on our success using SST during interventional procedures which previously had been quite painful for the patients. Notably the patients were comfortable, yet wide awake, which allowed for better patient-physician interaction during the procedure. We wrote this review article to bring attention to SST as an analgesic option for patients undergoing these pain procedures to improve procedural comfort while minimizing over-sedation.”