Rajib Hazarika, Faiza Ahmed Talukdar, Hrishikesh Bharali, Rajdeep Bhattacharjee
BACKGROUND With the enormous advancement in the field of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, postoperative pain has substantially reduced as compared to open procedures. However, postoperative pain is still the most frequent complaint, which can hamper recovery, mandate inpatient admission and thereby increase the cost of such care. Preemptive analgesia attenuates sensitisation of pain before surgery so as to reduce postoperative hyperalgesia and allodynia. Pregabalin is a structural analog of γ-aminobutyric acid, which shows analgesic, anticonvulsant, and anxiolytic effects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of preemptive oral pregabalin on postoperative pain and opioid consumption in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eighty adult patients of ASA I and II undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly divided into two groups to receive either pregabalin 150 mg capsule or a matching placebo (vitamin B complex capsule) 1 hour before surgery. Anaesthesia technique was standardised in both the groups. Postoperative pain was assessed at 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 hours period postoperatively by a 10 cm visual analogue scale, where 0, no pain; 10, worst imaginable pain. Subjects received Inj. Tramadol hydrochloride (1 mg/kg IV) as a rescue analgesic whenever VAS score was ≥4. Occurrence of any side effects like nausea, vomiting, sedation, headache and dizziness was also noted. Statistical Analysis Used- Data analysis was done using PASW 18.0 software. Results were analysed by Mann-Whitney U-test, large sample difference in proportion test and Fisher’s Exact test. RESULTS Patients in the pregabalin group had significantly lower pain scores at all the time intervals in comparison to placebo group (p<0.05). Total postoperative tramadol consumption in the pregabalin group was statistically significantly lower than in the control group (p<0.05) and also time to first request for rescue analgesic was significantly prolonged in the pregabalin group (p<0.05). Incidence of nausea/vomiting was greater in the placebo group than in the pregabalin group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Pre-emptive oral administration of pregabalin 150 mg in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy is an effective and safe method of analgesia with a low incidence of PONV and reduces postoperative opioid consumption.
