SynthesisPain2016
Acute analgesic effects of nicotine and tobacco in humans: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pain, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 151 citations in OpenAlex.
- Analgesic potential of transdermal nicotine patch in surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Association of Cannabinoid Administration With Experimental Pain in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA psychiatry · 2018Pooled it
- Acute analgesic effect of nicotine vaping using three experimental pain induction tasks: a randomized, placebo-controlled laboratory study.Psychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Factors associated with participation in a walking intervention for veterans who smoke and have chronic pain.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Trial
- The Effect of Praying on Endogenous Pain Modulation and Pain Intensity in Healthy Religious Individuals in Lebanon: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of religion and health · 2023Trial
- Pain characteristics and nicotine deprivation as predictors of performance during a laboratory paradigm of smoking cessation.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2020Trial
- A smoking cessation and pain management program for cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2018Trial
- Effects of nicotine deprivation on current pain intensity among daily cigarette smokers.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Nicotine deprivation increases pain intensity, neurogenic inflammation, and mechanical hyperalgesia among daily tobacco smokers.Journal of abnormal psychology · 2018Trial
- Smoking Abstinence Elicits Hyperalgesia: Neural Mechanism, Clinical Implications, and Pharmacological Managements.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Review
- Depressive Symptom Trajectories and Incident Pain: The Role of Nocturnal Sleep Duration in Two Prospective Cohort Studies.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2026Article
- Pain is Associated with E-Cigarette Use and Dependence in Young Adults: Findings from Wave 7 (2022-2023) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Exploring the role of chronic overlapping pain conditions on smoking dependence, cessation challenges, and internalizing psychopathology among individuals with irritable bowel syndrome who smoke.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Pain-Related Smoking Expectancies Across Tobacco Product Use Patterns, Including Heated Tobacco Products: Psychometric Validation of the Japanese Pain and Smoking Inventory.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2026Article
- Profiling Relationships Between Abdominal Pain, Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Pelvic Pain Bothersomeness in Young Females.The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology · 2026Observational
- Integrating Pain Assessment in Nicotine and Tobacco Research and Treatment to Improve Cessation Outcomes.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Article
- The Role of Sleep Impairment in Associations Between Pain and Nicotine/Tobacco Dependence in Wave 6 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study.Substance use & misuse · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Associated Factors of Central Sensitization Among Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- The role of sleep difficulties in the relation between pain and smoking cessation processes.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Nicotine, tobacco smoking, and pain in orthopedic trauma settings: a conceptual framework for practice and research.Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery · 2025Review
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Although animal models have consistently demonstrated acute pain inhibitory effects of nicotine and tobacco, human experimental studies have yielded mixed results. The main goal of this meta-analysis was to quantify the effects of nicotine/tobacco administration on human experimental pain threshold and tolerance ratings. A search of PubMed and PsycINFO online databases identified 13 eligible articles, including k = 21 tests of pain tolerance (N = 393) and k = 15 tests of pain threshold (N = 339). Meta-analytic integration for both threshold and tolerance outcomes revealed that nicotine administered through tobacco smoke and other delivery systems (eg, patch, nasal spray) produced acute analgesic effects that may be characterized as small to medium in magnitude (Hedges g = 0.35, 95% confidence interval = 0.21-0.50). Publication bias-corrected estimates remained significant and indicated that these effects may be closer to small. Sex composition was observed to be a significant moderator, such that pain threshold effects were more robust among samples that included more men than women. These results help to clarify a mixed literature and may ultimately help to inform the treatment of both pain and nicotine dependence. Pain and tobacco smoking are both highly prevalent and comorbid conditions. Current smoking has been associated with more severe chronic pain and physical impairment. Acute nicotine-induced analgesia could make smoking more rewarding and harder to give up. Future research should use dynamic measures of experimental pain reactivity and further explore biopsychosocial mechanisms of action.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.