Fentanyl for episodic dyspnoea in cancer patients

Two different patterns of breathlessness have been identified: chronic or continuous breathlessness and breathlessness crisis (acute, incident, episodic, breakthrough breathlessness). Metaanalysis and systematic reviews prove that opioids are beneficial in either opioid-naïve or -tolerant patients. However, data from two recent randomised controlled trials were not able to show the effectiveness of fentanyl for the relief of exertion-induced dyspnoea.