Comparison of pregabalin with gabapentin as preemptive analgesic in lumbar spine surgery

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Analgesic effect of gabapentin and pregabalin is well-defined in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Postoperative pain after lumbar spine surgery limits the function of patients in the postoperative period, for which the search for ideal analgesic goes on. The aim of the present study was to compare pregabalin and gabapentin as a pre-emptive analgesic in elective lumbar spine surgeries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this randomized prospective study, 75 patients were allocated into three groups of 25 each. Group G, group PG, and group P received two capsules of gabapentin 300 mg each, two capsules of pregabalin 150 mg each, and two multivitamin capsules, respectively, with sip of water 1 hour before the expected time of induction of anesthesia. Time for requirement of first dose of rescue analgesia, reduction in postoperative pain score and total dose of rescue analgesic used in first 24 hours postoperatively, and side effects were compared. RESULT: Time for requirement of first dose of rescue analgesic in PG group was 180.12 min and in G group was 104.16 min, which was statistically significant. Both G and PG group had lower visual analogue scale (VAS) score in comparison to P group, which was statistically significant. Consumption of rescue analgesic was less in G and PG group in comparison to P group. Amount of rescue analgesic requirement were low in PG group in comparison to G group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Though both study drugs had produced prolonged postoperative analgesia compared to placebo, pregabalin had better analgesic profile in postoperative period than gabapentin.