Method of treating pain by administering 24 hour oral opioid formulations exhibiting rapid rate of initial rise of plasma drug level

摘要

Patients are treated with 24-hour oral sustained release opioid formulations which upon administration quickly release an effective portion of the opioid contained therein such that there is an initially more rapid opioid release so that the minimum effective analgesic concentration of the opioid can be more quickly achieved. In the method, the formulations are designed to provide a relatively large peak to trough concentration of the opioid, rather than a flattened serum concentration curve.