In a prospective, double-blind, randomized control trial, researchers examined the postoperative pain and long term functional outcomes for spine surgery patients who received gabapentin and pregabalin and published the results in Spine.
The study included 90 patients with one group receiving 300 mg of gabapentin, a second group receiving 75 mg of pregabalin and a third group receiving a placebo dose one hour before surgery and eight hourly for seven days thereafter.
The patients who received pregabalin consistently showed reduced static and dynamic pain and required less rescue drug during the postoperative period. "Preoperative pregabalin administration is associated with less pain intensity and improved functional outcomes three months after lumbar discectomy followed by gabapentin and then placebo," concluded the study authors.
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