Buprenorphine (transdermal route)

Butrans, BAR-Buprenorphine, Butrans 10, Butrans 15, Butrans 20, Butrans 5

Buprenorphine skin patch is used to treat severe and persistent pain that requires an extended treatment period and when other pain medicines did not work well enough or cannot be tolerated. It belongs to the group of medicines called narcotic analgesics (pain medicines). Buprenorphine acts on the central nervous system (CNS) to relieve pain. The buprenorphine skin patch should not be used if you need pain medicine for just a short time, such as after surgery. Do not use this medicine for mild pain or pain that you only have once in a while or "as needed." When a narcotic medicine is used for a long time, it may become habit-forming, causing mental or physical dependence. However, people who have continuing pain should not let the fear of dependence keep them from using narcotics to relieve the pain. Mental dependence (addiction) is not likely to occur when narcotics are used for this purpose. Physical dependence may lead to withdrawal side effects if treatment is stopped suddenly. Severe withdrawal side effects can usually be prevented by gradually reducing the dose over a period of time. This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription. This product is available in the following dosage forms:

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered: Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully. Appropriate studies have not been performed on the relationship of age to the effects of buprenorphine skin patch in the pediatric population. Safety and efficacy have not been established. Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of buprenorphine skin patch in the elderly. However, elderly patients are more likely to have constipation and difficult or painful urination, and have age-related heart, kidney, liver, or lung problems, which may require caution and an adjustment in the dose for patients receiving buprenorphine skin patch to avoid serious side effects. There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding. Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Using this medicine with any of the following is usually not recommended, but may be unavoidable in some cases. If used together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use this medicine, or give you special instructions about the use of food, alcohol, or tobacco. The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially: