Replacing Fentanyl patches

[AndrewBworth]

Hello all,

One of my least favorite aspects of working in MRI is the removal of fentanyl patches from patients. Most patients seem to do ok without their patches for the time that it is removed, but some unfortunately experience a great deal of pain. Furthermore, some of these patients appear to be living on a fixed income, and if a patch is discarded before the end of its three day cycle, the patient is in a difficult financial situation ( the patches can be quite expensive, and the number issued may be tightly controlled by both prescribing physician and paying insurance ). Trying to reattach dried patches with medical tape hasn't been very satisfactory.
Although it's very simple - I've had success with the following method to preserve the patches:
1) Carefully remove the patch, wearing gloves. Transfer to a container skin side up, preferably with a lid. A kidney dish, with male to female IV ends inside works for me, topped with another kidney dish. It isn't necessary to be completely airtight.
2) After the scan, reaffix the patch to the skin (gloves), it should have some tack remaining. Place a large tegaderm over the patch and seal it well.

Although this seems almost condescendingly simple, it's very important to get this one right!