Pharmacokinetics and the effect of application site on a novel, long‐acting transdermal fentanyl solution in healthy laboratory Beagles

Freise, K. J., Newbound, G. C., Tudan, C., Clark, T. P. Pharmacokinetics and the effect of application site on a novel, long-acting transdermal fentanyl solution in healthy laboratory Beagles. J. vet. Pharmacol. Therap.35 (Suppl. 2), 27–33. Application of transdermal drugs to different anatomical sites can result in different absorption characteristics. The pharmacokinetics (PKs) and bioequivalence of a single 2.6 mg/kg (50 μL/kg) dose of a novel, long-acting transdermal fentanyl solution were determined when applied topically to the ventral abdominal or dorsal interscapular skin of 40 healthy laboratory Beagles. The PKs were differentiated by a more rapid initial absorption of fentanyl from the dorsal application site. Mean plasma fentanyl concentrations remained above 0.6 ng/mL from 4 to 96 h in the dorsal application group and from 8 to 144 h in the ventral application group. Bioequivalence analysis demonstrated that the sites were not equivalent; the 90% confidence intervals of the ratio of the geometric means for both the maximum concentration (Cmax) and the area under the curve (AUC) were not contained within the 80–125% interval. The Cmax was 2.34 ± 1.29 (mean ± standard deviation) and 2.02 ± 0.84 ng/mL for the ventral and dorsal application groups, respectively. The terminal elimination half-lives (t1/2) for both groups were similar with values of 137 ± 58.9 and 117 ± 59.6 h for the ventral and dorsal application site groups, respectively. A mean absorption rate of ≥2 μg · kg/h was maintained from 2 to 144 h following dorsal application and from 2 to 264 h following ventral application. These results suggest that transdermal fentanyl solution could be applied as a single dose to the dorsal scapular area 2–4 h prior to surgery with analgesia lasting a minimum of 4 days.