The Effect of a Single Dose Oral Pregabalin on Hemodynamic Changes and Duration of Analgesia after Spinal Anesthesia in Orthopedic Surgeries of Tibial Fractures

Treatment of acute pain and hemodynamic changes after surgery is extremely important. Various drugs for pain relief after surgery have been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single dose of oral pregabalin on hemodynamic changes and duration of analgesia after spinal anesthesia in orthopedic surgeries of tibia fractures. This clinical trial was carried out on 120 patients with fractures of the tibia bone in 2014 in city of Zahedan. Sampling was conducted using randomized blocks and patients were placed into pregabalin (150 mg PO 1 h before anesthesia) and placebo groups. Duration of analgesia, severity of anxiety, mean arterial pressure, and pulse rate were evaluated in both groups. The mean age of the patients was 34.8 ± 21.7 years and 84 patients (70%) were male and 36 (30%) were female. There were no significant differences at baseline characteristics of the patients in two arms of the study. After surgery, mean arterial pressure, pulse rate and anxiety, were significantly lower in intervention group. Also the duration of analgesia was significantly longer in intervention arm (185.3 ± 4.9 vs 36.9 ± 13.9, P < 0.01). Dizziness as a side effect of pregabalin was observed in 21 and 11 subjects in intervention and placebo groups, respectively (P < 0.01). The present study showed that a single dose of oral pregabalin increases the duration of analgesia and maintains hemodynamic stability in orthopedic surgery patients.