NICOTINE PATCH TO REDUCE POST SURGICAL PAIN

The use of a nicotine patch successfully used to help many smokers decrease their dependency on nicotine was shown to reduce pain in men after prostate removal surgery in a new anesthesiology study.

While morphine and other opioids (narcotics) remain the most commonly prescribed post-operative pain medications, many patients fear the side effects from these drugs, which can include drowsiness, nausea, slowed breathing, vomiting, constipation, itching and dependence.

Dr. Habib's study included 90 non-smoking men about to undergo a radical retropubic prostatectomy. Each received a 7-milligram nicotine patch or an identical placebo patch before anesthesia and surgery. After surgery, each patient was able to access morphine through a self-controlled device.

The patients who received the nicotine patch self-administered significantly less morphine in the postoperative period. In general, the nicotine patch was well-tolerated by patients, however, patients receiving nicotine reported higher levels of nausea.

Several previous studies have shown the pain-relief benefits of nicotine. In one study, a small dose of nicotine (3 milligrams) was given post-surgically, via a nicotine spray, to hysterectomy patients. These patients reported less pain and less need for morphine.

Future studies could determine whether nicotine is better administered in a patch or spray form, Dr. Habib said, as well as the effectiveness of nicotine in "smokers versus non-smokers and women versus men."