Outcome of nicotine replacement therapy in patients admitted to ICU: a randomized controlled double-blind prospective pilot study.

What Was Tested

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

To determine whether NRT in ICU patients affects the need for sedatives/analgesics, ventilator days, and ICU stay.

Why It Was Studied

The effect of nicotine withdrawal in smokers admitted to the ICU is not well understood, so the role of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in those patients is controversial.

Who Took Part

The study group was 40 subjects.

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

How the Study Was Run

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

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

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

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

The researchers collected data on sedatives/analgesics use during ICU stay and use and duration of mechanical ventilation.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Intensive Care Units, Pilot Projects, Tobacco Use Cessation Devices and Tobacco Use Disorder.

Author keywords: ICU, nicotine addiction, nicotine replacement therapy and smoking status.

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.

Results are reported in around 8 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2013 (Respiratory care), a journal based in United States.

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