Pharmacology and toxicology of fentanyl and its analogues

Fentanyl, a potent narcotic analgesic, was developed in 1960. It is used in the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain and other chronic pain, and in surgical anaesthesia. Fentanyl activates the same receptors as morphine, and is therefore classified as an opioid. Fentanyl belongs to a family of drugs based on a phenylethylpiperidine backbone, and possesses multiple sites for the addition or substitution of various chemical functional groups to produce subfamilies of compounds with similar or even higher analgesic or toxic effect.

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