In a recent nationwide shift, surgeons have sought to decrease postoperative opioid prescribing by adopting the use of non-opioid ‘multimodal’ pain regimens. 1–4 Gabapentinoids (gabapentin and pregabalin) are now commonly administered during the postoperative period for many surgical patients, especially with the rise in adoption of In this trustworthy systematic review, use of gabapentin for post-operative pain management was scrutinized. In summary, the quality of evidence for a clinically relevant benefit of gabapentin is low, and, importantly, harm may be present. While multimodal pain management is promoted in perioperative care by both anesthesia and surgical societies, specific guidelines for older adults fail to address the risks or benefits of gabapentinoids. 4 In this issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, the work of Park et al 5 provides additional evidence of the potential harms of gabapentin use in Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant, has recently been suggested as an effective postoperative ‘analgesic’ agent. The objective of the present study was to examine the analgesic effectiveness, opioid-sparing effects and side effects associated with the use of gabapentin in a perioperative setting. Gabapentin is commonly indicated in the treatment of seizures. 27 Gabapentin, which acts on the nociceptive processes involved in central sensitization, has been shown to reduce hypersensitivity associated with nerve injury (hyperalgesia) and postoperative pain and inflammation in animal models. 28 Interestingly, gabapentin’s antiemetic While the CDC’s controversial opioid guideline does not advocate using gabapentinoids for post-surgical pain, it does recommend their use in treating chronic pain -- with little to no mention of their side effects. Yu L, Ran B, Li M, et al. Gabapentin and pregabalin in the management of postoperative pain after lumbar spinal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Spine 2013; 38:1947–1952. [ DOI ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ] Background Gabapentin is an antiepileptic drug used in a variety of chronic pain conditions. Increasing numbers of randomized trials indicate that gabapentin is effective as a postoperative analgesic. This procedure-specific systematic review aims to analyse the 24-hour postoperative effect of gabapentin on acute pain in adults. Methods Medline, The Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were In 2006, Sihoe et al. evaluated gabapentin in the treatment of chronic pain after chest surgery (6). Twelve patients were chest trauma victims, 22 were status post video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), 8 had undergone open thoracotomies, and 3 had median sternotomies. Patients were started on a dose of gabapentin 300 mg daily Gabapentin appears safe and well tolerated when used for persistent post-operative and post-traumatic pain in thoracic surgery patients, although minor side effects do occur. Gabapentin may relieve refractory chest wall pain in some of these patients, particularly those with more severe pain. The aim was to document beneficial and harmful effects of perioperative gabapentin treatment. Methods: Randomized clinical trials comparing gabapentin vs. placebo or active placebo in adult surgical patients receiving gabapentin perioperatively were included. This review was conducted using Cochrane standards, trial sequential analysis (TSA Perioperative gabapentin, 1200 mg, administered preoperatively plus 600 mg every 8 hours continued for 72 hours after surgery did not affect time to pain cessation, the rate of pain resolution, or the proportion of patients with chronic pain at 6 months or 1 year following surgery. Peri-operative gabapentin administration was found to be effective in reducing pain scores, opioid requirements and opioid-related adverse effects in the first 24 hours after surgery. Given the significant differences between the studies and the possibility of bias, the authors' conclusions should be interpreted with caution. Gabapentin and other anticonvulsant medications have been established as an effective treatment for chronic neuropathic pain and are commonly used for such conditions as herpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy, and phantom limb pain following amputation. Gabapentin 250 mg is statistically superior to placebo in the treatment of established acute postoperative pain, but the NNT of 11 for at least 50% pain relief over 6 hours with gabapentin 250 mg is of limited clinical value and inferior to commonly used analgesics. One article described the effects of gabapentin on traumatic nerve injury or post-surgery nerve pain and found that gabapentin provided significantly better pain relief when compared to placebo, with more patients having at least a 30% pain reduction and less sleep interference due to pain. 28 Dolgun et. al. assessed the acute neuropathic pain The Cleveland Clinic study had patients take a preemptive dose of three drugs: acetaminophen, the nerve pain medication gabapentin and the NSAID celecoxib (Celebrex). “Giving non-opioid pain medications before may help prevent the cascade of pain-causing chemicals that comes from your central nervous system after surgery,” explains Memtsoudis. The purpose of this review is to critically appraise the evidence for the use of gabapentinoids for acute pain management and its impact on the development of chronic pain after surgery. Recent findings: Recent meta-analyses have revealed that prior data likely have overestimated the beneficial effects of gabapentinoids in acute perioperative Gabapentin is a novel drug used for the treatment of postoperative pain with antihyperalgesic properties and a unique mechanism of action, which differentiates it from other commonly used drugs. Various studies have shown that perioperative use of gabapentin reduces postoperative pain.
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