Small Study Shows Existing Drug Could Reduce Opioi

Small Study Shows Existing Drug Could Reduce Opioid Administration After Surgery

A pilot study by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina has revealed that an FDA-approved drug could help reduce the need for opioid administration after surgery. Scientists from the university’s Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine (MUSC) found that an already-approved drug called N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could reduce pain levels in patients after spinal surgery, thereby limiting the need for opioids.

The pilot study involved spinal surgery patients who received traditional pain-relief treatments as well as NAC after surgery. The researchers found that these patients had lower pain scores and asked for fewer opioids after their spinal surgeries compared to patients who received a placebo.

Surgery patients often receive opioids a short while after their surgical procedures to reduce pain. However, while opioids can be quite effective at treating pain, patients develop a tolerance with every dose, and the medication’s potency reduces. This can ultimately lead to dependence issues, addiction and even opioid overdose deaths.

Consequently, physicians regularly consider alternative options that can reduce the need for opioid treatment after surgery.

The study’s principal investigator and endowed chair in anesthesia research, Dr. Sylvia H. Wilson, notes that while physicians likely won’t eliminate opioid treatments after surgery, they should try to reduce the amount patients need. Wilson has spent years trying to develop better pain-management therapies and reduce opioid use after surgery. She teamed up with senior study author, Michael Scofield, to study NAC, which is typically used to treat liver damage, mushroom poisoning and acetaminophen poisoning.

Scofield had previously studied how NAC affected the nervous system, particularly in terms of pain perception and addiction, making him the ideal collaborator for Wilson.

The research team selected spinal-surgery patients because they tend to experience the most chronic pain prior to surgery and are often exposed to higher opioid levels before, during and after their surgical procedures. These patients received a dose of saline solution or NAC alongside the regular anesthesia regimen during surgery.

The researchers found that the patients who had an NAC infusion during surgery needed 19% fewer opioid doses 48 hours after surgery than the ones who received a saline solution. These patients also had lower reported pain scores and had longer intervals between surgery and requesting pain medications compared to the saline-solution patients.

The research team will now focus on investigating whether its findings can translate to alternative medical procedures; the team is enrolling minimally invasive hysterectomy patients for a larger clinical trial.

Companies engaged in commercializing analgesics, such as SOHM Inc. (OTC: SHMN), are also focused on developing viable options to opioids so that the opioid crisis can be addressed while also meeting the needs of patients who require pain medication.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SOHM Inc. (OTC: SHMN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/SHMN

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