Researchers at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, in New Delhi, India, studied the effect of curcumin on pain and fatigue following laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder surgery).

First, the details.

• 50 consecutive patients scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy received general anesthesia and an analgesia protocol.
  • Curcumin
  • Placebo
• Analgesics were taken if the assigned treatments provided insufficient pain relief.
• Patients maintained pain/fatigue/adverse event diaries based on 100-point pain scale and 10-point fatigue scale.
• Pain and fatigue levels at day 3 and weeks 1,2 and 3 were evaluated.

And, the results.

• Pain and fatigue scores at day 3 were similar in the 2 groups.
• At weeks 1 and 2, the curcumin group showed significantly lower average pain scores — 15 vs 30 for placebo.
• Fatigue scores at weeks 1, 2, and 3 were significantly lower in the curcumin group — 2, 1, and 0, respectively, vs 5, 4, and 1 for placebo.
• All patients were pain free at week 3.
• The use of pain medicine was significantly lower in the curcumin group — 7 vs 4 for placebo.

The bottom line?

A PubMed search shows this as the first study of patients treated for pain following gallbladder surgery.

6/28/11 21:44 JR