Abstract: A transdermal delivery system of dihydroetorphine hydrochloride(DHE-TDS)wasdeveloped.The DHE-TDS mainly composed of polyvinyl alcohol,polyvinyl pyrrolidone and lactose.Tests on rabbits showed only slight skin irritation according to federal hazardous substances act Bygiving DHE-TDS to rabbits, DHE release was shown to be governed by first-order mechanism. WhenDHE-TDS was given to Wistar rats,a relatively stable blood drug concentration was observed from 4～32 h after drug adminstration. Writhing tests showed that one dose of DHE-TDS would maintainthe narcotic action on rats for at least 48 h.