[Smoking cigarettes and pain--implications for the postoperative period]

Smoking cigarettes poses a number of relevant medical and social problems. Impact of smoking on pain threshold and tolerance may be of significance for surgical patients, who are prompted to abstain from cigarettes before operation. Association between smoking and pain perception is complex. Experimental data bring evidence for analgesic action of nicotine and tobacco smoke acting via nicotinic acetylochline receptors (nAChR). However, clinical studies are unequivocal. Smoking is connected with some pain syndromes. Smokers take much more analgesics than non-smokers and probability of developing opioid dependence is increased in this group of patients. Smokers also present with altered mechanism of stress-induced analgesia and both gender and pain modalities influence their pain perception. Some studies demonstrate increased requirements for postoperative opioid analgesia in smoking patients. Strategies for postoperative pain treatment in smokers should involve regional techniques and clonidine.