Abstract
Background and Objectives
Proper breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) management is of pivotal importance. Although
rapid-acting, oral and nasal transmucosal, fentanyl formulations (rapid-onset opioids,
ROOs) are licensed for BTcP treatment, not all guidelines recommend their use. Presumably,
some research gaps need to be bridged to produce solid evidence. We present a bibliometric
network analysis on ROOs for BTcP treatment.
Methods
Documents were retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) online database. The string
was “rapid onset opioids” or “transmucosal fentanyl” and “breakthrough cancer pain”.
Year of publication, journal metrics (impact factor and quartile), title, document
type, topic, and clinical setting (in-patients, outpatients, and palliative care)
were extracted. The software tool VOSviewer (version 1.6.17) was used to analyze the
semantic network analyzes, bibliographic coupling, journals analysis, and research
networks.
Results
502 articles were found in WOS. A declining trend in published articles from 2014
to 2021 was observed. Approximately 50% of documents regard top quartile (Q1) journals.
Most articles focused on ROOs efficacy, but abuse and misuse issues are poorly addressed.
With respect to article type, we calculated 132 clinical investigations. The semantic
network analysis found interconnections between the terms “breakthrough cancer pain,”
“opioids,” and “cancers.” The top co-cited article was published in 2000 and addressed
pain assessment. The largest number of partnerships regarded the United States, Italy,
and England.
Conclusion
In this research area, most articles are published in top-ranked journals. Nevertheless,
paramount topics should be better addressed, and the implementation of research networks
is needed.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 10, 2022
Accepted:
January 27,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
