Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have made an exciting discovery that could change how doctors manage pain after surgery. They found that a well-known drug called N-acetylcysteine, or NAC for short, can help patients feel less pain after operations and reduce the need for opioid medications.
NAC isn’t a new drug. It’s already approved by the FDA for other uses, such as treating certain lung problems and helping with acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdose. But in this new study, the focus was on using NAC to manage pain in people who had spinal surgery.
Spinal surgery often leads to a lot of pain, and patients are usually given strong opioid painkillers afterward. While opioids can be effective, they also come with serious risks like addiction, tolerance (needing higher doses over time), and side effects.
That’s why doctors and researchers are searching for safer options that work just as well—or better—without those risks.
Dr. Sylvia Wilson and Dr. Michael Scofield led this research. Dr. Wilson has spent years looking for better ways to control pain after surgery. Dr. Scofield has studied how NAC affects the brain, especially how it relates to pain and addiction. By working together, they hoped to find out if NAC could be a safer option for patients recovering from surgery.
In their clinical study, some patients received NAC during their spinal surgery, while others received a saltwater (saline) solution as a placebo. After surgery, the difference was clear. Patients who got NAC needed 19% fewer opioid doses to manage their pain.
They also waited longer before asking for pain medicine, which suggests that NAC not only helped reduce pain, but that its effects might last longer than expected.
This lasting benefit matches earlier research from Dr. Scofield’s lab, where NAC was found to help reduce drug cravings in people recovering from heroin addiction. It seems that NAC has unique effects on how the brain processes pain and reward, making it a promising tool not just for addiction recovery but also for pain relief.
Encouraged by their findings, the team is now expanding their research. Their next step is a new clinical trial to test NAC in patients having minimally invasive hysterectomies—a type of surgery done to remove the uterus. This will help them see if NAC works for different kinds of surgeries, not just spinal ones.
Changing how pain is treated in hospitals takes time and strong proof. But Dr. Wilson and her team are determined to gather that proof through more studies and trials. Their goal is to make NAC a regular part of post-surgery care, helping patients recover with less pain and fewer opioids.
This research could lead to a major shift in the way doctors treat surgical pain. If successful, it means more patients could heal with less discomfort and less risk of becoming dependent on opioid medications.
You can read more about this study in the journal Pain Management.
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