Safer drugs reduce need for narcotics.

• Position: Pain Prevention - Post-surgery drug therapy developments - Brief Article

An injectable form of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) and a member of a new class of drugs called COX-2 inhibitors hold promise as safe and effective tools for controlling surgical pain, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Both substances significantly reduce morphine consumption in patients recovering from major surgery, researchers from Yale University, New Haven, Conn., report.

"Lowering morphine consumption reduces postsurgical complications and helps patients recover quicker," anesthesiologist Raymond Sinatra indicates. "That translates into shorter hospital stays, healthier patients, and reduced health care costs."

Although morphine does an outstanding job of relieving pain, it can cause a number of side effects, including nausea, vomiting, constipation, drowsiness, and a slowdown in breathing. As a result, the search for techniques and alternative medications that might reduce or eliminate the need for morphine altogether remains a key area of anesthesiology research.

A new soluble form of acetaminophen delivered by a catheter into a vein offers a safe and effective method of decreasing the need for morphine in surgical patients. The medication, which is expected to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval soon, lowered morphine consumption by more than 30% in patients studied following major hip or knee surgery who were able to give themselves the narcotic by using a patient-controlled analgesia pump.

The injectable form of acetaminophen enhances the drug's analgesic power by reaching the central nervous system sooner and in a higher concentration than in standard tablet form, Sinatra explains. It provides an excellent method of managing pain in...