The effect of cigarette smoking on hydrocodone efficacy in chronic pain patients.

Hydrocodone is frequently prescribed for moderate to severe pain. Nicotine has analgesic properties and it is hypothesized that cigarette smoking might decrease the dosage of hydrocodone needed for the relief of chronic pain. This would be a topic of importance to clinicians as it relates to individualized medicine and pharmacotherapy for chronic pain management. Smokers and nonsmokers were assigned randomly to one of two groups to receive hydrocodone daily for 30 days. This study concluded that the dose of hydrocodone consumed did not statistically differ between the two Groups. Smokers however, had significantly less pain relief than nonsmokers.