SICKLE CELL DISEASE | Intranasal Fentanyl Shows Promise for Rapid Pain Relief in Adults

A new study from Canada suggests that Fentanyl, when given as a nasal spray, may offer a fast, safe, and effective way to relieve sudden, severe pain in adults living with sickle cell disease (SCD).
Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller that has already been widely used in children with SCD and in adults with cancer or chronic pain. Researchers now believe its use in adults with SCD could fill a critical gap in managing pain crises quickly and without the need for needles or hospital admissions.
Published in the British Journal of Haematology, the study looked at how well a single dose of 100 micrograms of intranasal fentanyl worked in 23 adults with SCD during 38 outpatient hospital visits. The patients, mostly young women, had an average pain score of 7 out of 10 before treatment. Just one hour after receiving fentanyl through the nose, the average score dropped to 6, and by the time they were discharged—around four hours later—it fell further to 3. That equals a 60% reduction in pain on average.
Importantly, the treatment was found to be safe, with no serious side effects reported. The fast-acting nature of intranasal fentanyl also helped many patients avoid being admitted to the hospital or needing more pain medication.
Researchers at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, where the study was conducted, recommend using this method more broadly and call for standard protocols to help other healthcare centers adopt it.
For people with SCD, where timely and effective pain relief is essential, this approach may be a promising addition to current treatment options.
Source: British Journal of Haematology