25 - Reductions in Pain, Increased Function, and Improved Quality of Life After Use of a Topical Analgesic Pain Relieving Patch: Results from the RELIEF Study

¹Englewood Hospital, Englewood, NJ, USA. ²Metrics for Learning, Queen Creek, AZ, USA. ³Clarity Science LLC, Narragansett, RI, USA

Purpose
Pain is the most common reason patients consult primary care providers. There is evidence that relying on opioids for pain control may lead to worse clinical outcomes. There are also well-known risks associated with oral medications including opioids, NSAIDs and even acetaminophen. Therefore, alternative evidence-based therapies are needed to support an opioid-sparing multimodal approach to pain management. Numerous guidelines including CDC recommend topical analgesics for a variety of painful conditions. They can play an important role in the management of acute and chronic, mild to moderate pain syndromes including soft tissue injuries, musculoskeletal pain, and various neuropathic pain disorders.
Evaluation of effective treatments for pain relief, including topical analgesic patches, is critical to identify safer opioid-sparing approaches to pain treatment. We therefore undertook an IRB-approved observational study to evaluate patients with mild to moderate acute and chronic pain. The purpose of the study was to evaluate perceptions of pain treatment and associated symptoms with the use of a topical pain-relieving patch (Salonpas Pain Relieving Patch) via subject and clinician reported surveys over the course of two weeks.
Methods
This IRB-approved study evaluated the efficacy of a topical pain-relieving patch containing methyl salicylate 10%, menthol 6% and camphor 3.1% in reducing Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) scores in patients experiencing mild/moderate acute pain. 152 adult patients (100 females, 52 males) with acute arthritic, neurologic or musculoskeletal pain received patches for 14 days. A control group of an additional 47 patients (27 females, 20 males) did not receive a patch. After 14 days, 34 Patients from the control group crossed over to treatment and were treated with the pain patch, increasing the total treatment group to 186 patients. Surveys were administered to all patients at baseline and 14 days to assess changes in pain severity and interference by BPI Short Form. Changes in oral pain medication use, side effects and satisfaction with patch use were also assessed.
Results
Treatment group paired data were collected in both active and control groups. Over 14 days, treatment group (n=186) mean BPI Severity score decreased 49% (4.9 to 2.5/10;P< .001, 95% CI [2.09, 2.58]) and mean BPI Interference score decreased 58% (4.3 to 1.8/10;P< .001, 95% CI [2.33, 2.82]). Decreases in mean BPI Severity and Interference scores were significantly less in the control group (13%, 15% respectively). Treatment group patients showed a 36.4% decrease in usage of other oral pain medications. No side effects of treatment were reported. At day 14, 61% of the treatment group were using concomitant oral pain medications “a lot less” then when they started using the patch. 90% were very/extremely satisfied with the patch. Results also showed Quality of Life (QoL) improvements with the treatment group.
Conclusions
Results indicate that this topical analgesic pain-relieving patch can reduce BPI pain severity and interference scores and related pain for adult patients with arthritic, neurologic and musculoskeletal pain and should be considered first-line therapy for patients experiencing mild to moderate pain.