A Peninsula Health researcher has won a major award at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Annual Scientific meeting in Adelaide.

Dr Ashey Webb, a specialist anaesthetist at Frankston Hospital, won the Gilbert-Brown Medal for his ground-breaking ketamine-tramadol research project.

This is awarded for the best new research presented at the meeting from Australia and New Zealand.

The three-year long project—involving 120 surgery patients—was one of the largest randomised trials ever conducted at Frankston Hospital.

The trial was to find out if the addition of a ketamine, a non-opiate drug, would help relieve pain and reduce recovery time following abdominal surgery.

Carmel Hinchy, was one of the surgery patients who took part in the trial.

Ms Hinchy, who is also a Peninsula Health nurse, said she had no hesitation when invited to take part in the trial, after she found out she required surgery in 2004.

'As a nurse, I was aware of the nausea component of large amounts of opiates for pain relief and hoped that if I received the ketamine infusion this could be alleviated.'

The recently-analysed trial results showed patients who received the ketamine, including Ms Hinchy, had less pain, less need for morphine and were more awake after surgery.

The results have been accepted for publication in the prestigious U.S. Anesthesia and Analgesia journal.