AcelRx Pharmaceuticals announced the publication of a report arising from a series of rhinology procedures successfully performed using sufentanil sublingual tablet 30 mcg in Otolaryngology Case Reports. The study was lead-authored by otolaryngologist Dr. Ashley Sikand and entitled "Evaluation of Sufentanil Sublingual Tablet 30 mcg for Perioperative Pain Management of In-Office Rhinology Procedures." The single-center, prospective, case series study was conducted at the Ear, Nose and Throat Consultants of Nevada in Las Vegas, NV and evaluated a total of 77 patients with respect to quality of perioperative pain management in patients undergoing a combination of rhinology procedures. Patients ranged in age from 22 – 73 years of age with the majority classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists, or ASA, Physical Status 1 or 2 and only 8% classified as ASA 3. Most patients underwent a combination of procedures including balloon sinuplasty, submucosal resection of inferior turbinates and septoplasty. Patients were premedicated with oral lorazepam 1-2 mg to decrease anxiety followed by oral ondansetron 4 mg as a prophylactic antiemetic. SST 30 mcg was then administered sublingually. Throughout this preoperative period, topical and infiltrated local anesthetic was applied to the nasal cavity. The procedures ranged in duration from 30 to 90 minutes. Patients were comfortable throughout the procedure and no patient required additional dosing of analgesics. The authors reported that the prolonged analgesic tail produced by the 13-hour half-life of SST allowed patients to utilize fewer oral opioids once they were home.
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