Anesthesia & Clinical Research
Open Access

Abstract

Clinical Use of Buprenorphine for Anesthesia and Pain Management in Japan

Shinsuke Hamaguchi

Buprenorphine (BUP) is a classic analgesic drug, and recent studies have reported a new, unique pharmacological profile of it. BUP can be used in patients with renal dysfunction and failure, and these patients can receive the same dose of BUP administered to those with normal renal function. BUP may have a local anestheticlike effect to blockade voltage gated Na+ channels; it can be used as a local anesthetic peripheral nerve block adjuvant to prolong analgesia. BUP is useful for postoperative pain relief in patients with severe liver dysfunction in Japan. However, the prolonged metabolism of BUP and occurrence of delayed emergence from anesthesia may occur in these patients. Moreover, in Japan, the transdermal buprenorphine patch (TBP) is used for the reducing intractable chronic non-cancer pain such as low back pain or pain caused by osteoarthritis not opioid addiction.