Minerva
Intranasal sufentanil for pain relief . . . and other stories
BMJ 2019; 366 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4951 (Published 08 August 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;366:l4951
Rapid pain relief
Sufentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 10 times more potent than its parent drug fentanyl, and 500 times more potent than morphine. A multicentre trial from France finds that, when administered intranasally to victims of severe trauma, its analgesic effect is no less good than that of intravenous morphine, as judged by patients’ self rating of pain 30 minutes after the first dose (PLoS Med doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002849). In situations where intravenous access is difficult to achieve, intranasal sufentanil may be a way to provide early and effective analgesia.
Melatonin
Before the invention of electric lighting, people were exposed either to …