Mystakidou 2003.

Methods	Case series Duration: 48 months
Participants	N = 529 enrolled Primary condition: Neuropathic pain (41.2%), nociceptive (32.5%), or combined pain types (26.3). Most prevalent etiologies postherpetic neuralgia (17.2%) and low back pain (15.3%) Baseline pain score: Mean 7.3 (SD 1.04) / 10 VAS Time since onset: Not reported Mean age: 56.6 (SD 14.5) years, Range 21 to 88 years Female: 56.4% Previous opioid therapy: To meet inclusion criteria, patients must have had oral codeine with insufficient analgesia or oral morphine with insufficient analgesia or severe side effects
Interventions	Transdermal fentanyl Initial dose: Mean 25.8 (SD 0.58) ug/hour Titrated to 67.3 (SD 29.92) ug/hour Supplemental analgesics: Rescue morphine (5 mg) allowed, and NSAIDS prescribed as deemed necessary. Adjuvants included antidepressants, anticonvulsants, corticosteroids, and hydrocortisone.
Outcomes	Discontinuation due to adverse events Adverse events Discontinuation due to insufficient pain relief Pain, continuous Quality of life
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Comparability of patients at baseline and follow‐up (continuous data) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Due to attrition
Selection method random or consecutive	Unclear risk	Not reported
Prospective	Low risk	Prospective
Free from confounding treatment(s)	High risk	Adjuvants and rescue medication permitted
Patient compliance monitored and reported at at least 85%?	Unclear risk	Not reported
Attrition and right censoring less than 15% (continuous data) All outcomes	High risk	Greater attrition
Funding from a source without financial conflict of interest?	Unclear risk	Not reported, but no brand names mentioned