Gabapentin provides effective postoperative analgesia whether administered pre-emptively or post-incision (original) (raw)

2005, Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie

We investigated the effects of pre-incision and postincision administration of gabapentin on postoperative pain and fentanyl consumption associated with open donor nephrectomy. Methods: Sixty ASA I subjects were randomly allocated into three groups to receive gabapentin 600 mg two hours before surgery and placebo after surgical incision (pre-incision group), placebo two hours before surgery and gabapentin 600 mg after surgical incision (post-incision group), or placebo two hours before surgery and after surgical incision (placebo group). After surgery, pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS), (1-10 cm) at time points 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 hr. Subjects received patient-controlled-analgesia (fentanyl 1.0 µg•kg-1 subject activated dose). Total fentanyl consumption in each group was recorded. Results: Subjects of pre-incision and post-incision groups had lower VAS scores at all time points (3.