Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have made a breakthrough in pain management. They’ve found that N-acetylcysteine, or NAC—a drug already approved by the FDA for other medical uses—can significantly reduce pain after surgery.
This discovery could offer a much-needed alternative to opioids, which are often used to treat post-surgical pain but come with serious risks, including addiction.
The research focused on patients undergoing spinal surgery. These surgeries often involve a difficult recovery and high doses of pain medication. In this study, patients were given either NAC or a placebo (a harmless saline solution) during their surgery.
Those who received NAC reported less pain afterward and used fewer opioid medications. In fact, they needed 19% fewer doses than those who received the placebo.
NAC is best known for treating acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose and helping people with lung conditions. But it also has antioxidant properties and affects brain chemicals related to pain and addiction. Dr. Sylvia Wilson and Dr. Michael Scofield led the study, combining their expertise in pain treatment and neuroscience.
Dr. Wilson has long been searching for safer pain relief methods, while Dr. Scofield has studied NAC’s impact on brain circuits involved in drug addiction and pain perception.
One particularly interesting finding was that the pain relief from NAC appeared to last longer than expected—patients who received it waited longer to ask for pain medication after surgery.
This suggests that NAC’s effects go beyond its time in the body, which matches earlier research from Dr. Scofield’s work with heroin addiction, where NAC showed lasting effects on the brain’s response to pain and craving.
Encouraged by these results, the team is now testing NAC in other types of surgeries, starting with minimally invasive hysterectomies. Their goal is to confirm that NAC is not only effective for spinal surgery but also works well across a wide range of operations.
Changing how doctors treat pain isn’t easy. It takes time, strong evidence, and approval from medical authorities. But this study is a big step toward that goal. If NAC proves to be consistently safe and helpful, it could become a widely used tool in hospitals, giving patients better pain relief with fewer risks.
This new approach could transform the way we manage pain after surgery—helping patients recover more comfortably while reducing dependence on opioids. For people concerned about addiction or looking for gentler treatment options, NAC might be a game-changer.
You can read more about this study in the journal Pain Management. As more research unfolds, NAC could become a key part of modern post-surgical care, offering new hope for pain relief that’s safer and smarter.
If you care about pain, please read studies about how to manage your back pain, and Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to live pain-free with arthritis, and results showing common native American plant may help reduce diarrhea and pain.
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