A transdermal nicotine patch is not effective for postoperative pain management in smokers: a pilot dose-ranging study

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Nicotine has an antinociceptive effect in animal models.

The analgesic effect in humans has been examined, but studies have had mixed results.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 28 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

The researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, prospective, placebo-controlled trial of 28 patients undergoing abdominal or pelvic surgery who required patient-controlled analgesia and an overnight hospital stay.

How the Study Was Run

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

The patients 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.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide), giving a reference point.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the patients stayed in one arm throughout.

The primary outcome variable was postoperative pain reported over the first hour and over the next 5 days using a standard numerical rating scale.

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

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Administration, Cutaneous, Analgesia, Patient-Controlled, Analgesics, Analgesics, Opioid, Morphine, Nicotine and Nicotinic Agonists.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) in 28 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 5 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2009 (Anesthesia and analgesia), a journal based in United States.

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