Lidocaine transdermal patch reduced the pain intensity in neuropathic cancer patients with opioid treatment

Abstract Background:Limited efficacy has been observed when using opioid to treat neuropathic pain. Lidocaine patches reduce neuropathic pain in post-herpetic neuralgia, but their benefits for cancer-related neuropathic pain remain unclear. This study aimed to demonstrate a useful treatment for cancer-related neuropathic pain. The primary endpoint was pain intensity evaluated by the numerical rating scale (NRS). The secondary endpoints were the pain relief score and the quality of analgesic treatment. Methods:We assessed the efficacy and safety of lidocaine transdermal patches in patients experiencing neuropathic cancer pain.Terminal cancer patients with opioid treatmentparticipated in the 3-day study. Results:The results showed a statistically significant difference in the median NRS over three days (Kruskal-Wallis test, P<0.0001). The median NRS pain intensity from Day 1 to Day 3 was 4.0 with 95% C.I. (3.3, 5.0), 3.0 (2.5, 3.5) and 2.5 (2.0, 3.0), respectively. The difference between the median NRS pain intensities of any two days was statistically significant (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in the pain relief score or the quality of analgesic treatment. Conclusions:In this study, the 5% lidocaine transdermal patch reduced the NRS pain intensity in neuropathic cancer patients with opioid treatment. The transdermal patch is generally useful and well-tolerated.