In the early days of anaesthesia, opioids were traditionally given by the intramuscular and intravenous routes and other methods of administration were considered as novel. However, because of expanding interest in both acute and chronic pain over the past few decades, the anaesthetist routinely administers opioids via the oral, subcutaneous, rectal, intrathecal, extradural and transdermal routes. All these modes of delivery can now be considered as conventional, despite the vagaries of product licensing in some situations. In this short review, we shall consider three methods of opioid administration that can still be considered as novel: intranasal and inhalational administration and iontophoresis. Some may consider intra-articular administration as novel, but this has recently been reviewed in detail elsewhere.