Table 6.

Mean physician ratings of fentanyl, hydromorphone, and morphine on a 1–10 scale

	Fentanyl	Hydromorphone	Morphine
Speed of onset of analgesics to quickly control pain	7.7	7.2	6.5
The sustainability of analgesia	5.0	7.6	6.9
Active metabolites and delayed consequences	7.0	6.1	5.2
Standard adverse events: nausea, vomiting, confusion, delirium, respiratory depression	6.5	5.9	4.9
Flexibility with dose escalation and/or titration	7.0	6.4	6.5
Use in high-risk patients such as chronic opioid use, respiratory comorbidities, elderly, obese, age > 65 years, renal impairment	6.2	5.3	4.9

1 = least preferred, 10 = most preferred

Survey question: “in relation to IV opioid use, please think about the three mainstream agents: fentanyl, hydromorphone and morphine and rank each on the following characteristics. Please use a 1–10 scale where 1 is ‘Least preferred’ and 10 is ‘Most preferred’”

IV intravenous