Transdermal nicotine patch for postoperative pain management: a pilot dose-ranging study

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide), published as a randomized controlled trial.

In this pilot study, the researchers examined the analgesic effect of a transdermal nicotine patch applied before surgery in nonsmokers.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 40 subjects were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults, both men and women.

The researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, prospective placebo-controlled trial of 40 subjects, undergoing general surgery that required postoperative patient-controlled analgesia and an overnight hospital admission.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and pilot study.

The subjects were allocated by chance, so the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

As a double-blind Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) group a baseline to be compared against.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study would be practical.

The primary outcome variable was pain report using a numerical rating scale (NRS) in the first hour after surgery and over the next 5 days.

Secondary outcomes were pain medication use, hemodynamic values, nausea, and sedation.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Administration, Cutaneous, Analgesics, Hemodynamics, Nicotine, Postoperative Pain and Pilot Projects.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) in 40 subjects.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2008 (Anesthesia and analgesia), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) compound page.