Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, are important therapeutic medicines that are used widely for pain, as well as for anaesthesia, in combination with other medication. This document focuses on the misuse of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues* and other novel synthetic opioids and does not address issues pertaining to their use in legitimate therapeutic and clinical contexts. Specifically, this document focuses on the clinical management of the health-related harms associated with the misuse of these substances, both acute harms as well as harms from frequent and long-term use (chronic harms). It is aimed primarily at a clinical audience.

Although there is a large body of evidence on pharmaceutical synthetic opioids and fentanyl and its analogues, the evidence on the novel fentanyls and other novel opioids, their harms and management, is currently limited and cannot be considered as robust. Nonetheless, the research findings are broadly consistent and this document provides clinically relevant information based on the best evidence currently available.