Skip Navigation Links.
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 12 (2024)</span>Volume 12 (2024)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 11 (2023)</span>Volume 11 (2023)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 10 (2022)</span>Volume 10 (2022)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 9 (2021)</span>Volume 9 (2021)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 8 (2020)</span>Volume 8 (2020)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 7 (2019)</span>Volume 7 (2019)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 6 (2018)</span>Volume 6 (2018)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 5 (2017)</span>Volume 5 (2017)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 4 (2016)</span>Volume 4 (2016)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 3 (2015)</span>Volume 3 (2015)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 2 (2014)</span>Volume 2 (2014)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 1 (2013)</span>Volume 1 (2013)
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2015, 3(5A), 57-63
DOI: 10.12691/AJPHR-3-5A-13
Research Article

Efficacy of Gabapentin in Neuropathic Pain: A Study at Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Nepal

Prem K. Gupta1, , B.D. Paranjape1, Anjali Deka2, Ranjib K. Jha3 and Raju Poudel4

1Department of Pharmacology, Nobel Medical College &Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal

2Department of Pharmacology, College of Medical Sciences &Teaching Hospital, Bharatpur, Nepal

3Department of Orthopedics, Nobel Medical College & Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal

4Department of Neurology, College of Medical Sciences &Teaching Hospital, Bharatpur, Nepal

Pub. Date: October 28, 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Scenario 2015; Millennium Development Goals)

Cite this paper

Prem K. Gupta, B.D. Paranjape, Anjali Deka, Ranjib K. Jha and Raju Poudel. Efficacy of Gabapentin in Neuropathic Pain: A Study at Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Nepal. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2015; 3(5A):57-63. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-3-5A-13

Abstract

Pain is a common symptom in many diseases. Neuropathic pain is produced by damage to or pathological changes in the peripheral or central nervous systems. Since most neuropathic pain respond poorly to NSAIDSs and opioid analgesics, newer anticonvulsant drug, ‘Gabapentin’ having neuromodulatory effect on pain perception mechanisms, has shown promising effects in alleviating such pain. To have an idea of the analgesic efficacy of gabapentin in relieving neuropathic pain, this hospital based observational prospective study was taken up for six months at Nobel Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar in the Department of Orthopedics. 100 patients with neuropathic pain were monitored daily for the severity of pain and quality of sleep for 1 week using Visual Analog scale (VAS) and Sleep Quality Scale. The mean baseline pain score on Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for all cases on day 1 was 62.8±13.4mm while it was reduced to 34.8±11.9 mm (p<0.001) on day 7. Similarly, the mean baseline Sleep interference score on Sleep Quality Scale for all cases on day 1 was 3.04 ± 1.77 while on day 7 the score was reduced to 1.92 ± 0.39 (p<0.001). Overall, the mean pain reduction in neuropathic pain was 44.58%, and the mean reduction in sleep interference was 36.84%. The study showed that gabapentin had significant analgesic efficacy in reduction in neuropathic pain with few adverse effects like dizziness and somnolence (drowsiness).

Keywords

Analgesic Efficacy, Gabapentin, Neuropathic Pain, Sleep Quality Scale, Visual Analog Scale(VAS)

Copyright

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]  Paudel KR, Bhattacharya SK, Rauniar GP, Das BP. Comparison of antinociceptive effect of the antiepileptic drug gabapentin to that of various dosage combinations of gabapentin with lamotrigine and topiramate in mice and rats. J Neurosci Rural Pract 2011; 2: 130-6.
 
[2]  Oxenham D. Palliative care and pain management. In: Hunter JAA (editor). Davidson’s Principles and practice of Medicine, 20th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2006. p. 274.
 
[3]  Ghosh AK, Ghosh A, Kundu A, Das AK, Bhattacharya KB.Comparative study of efficacy and safety of pregabalin and gabapentin in neuropathic pain. Asian JPharm Life Sci2012; 2(1): 64-71.
 
[4]  Woolf CJ, Mannion RJ. Neuropathic pain, Aetiology, symptoms, mechanisms, and management. Lancet 1999; 353: 1959-64.
 
[5]  Backonja M, Beydoun A, Edwards KR, Schwartz SL, Fonseca V, Hes M, et al. Gabapentin for thesymptomatic treatment of painful Neuropathy in Patient with diabetes mellitus. JAMA 1998; 280(21): 1831-6.
 
[6]  To TP, Lim TC, Hill ST, Frauman AG, Cooper N, Kirsa SW, et al. Gabapentin for neuropathic pain following Spinal Cord Injury. Spinal Cord 2002; 40(6): 282-5.
 
[7]  Bitanga ES, Baroque AC, Santosocampo AS, Guevarra AY, Querijero MB. Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of gabapentin in neuropathic pain: Results of a post-marketing surveillance study in 1214 Filipino patients. Neurol J Southeast Asia 2002; 7: 25-34.
 
[8]  Bennett MI, Simpson KH. Gabapentin in the treatment of neuropathic pain.J Palliat Med 2004; 18: 5-11.
 
[9]  Serpell MG. Gabapentin in neuropathic pain syndromes: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Pain2002; 99 (3): 557-66.
 
[10]  Rosenberg J, Harrell C. The effect of gabapentin on neuropathic pain. Clin J Pain 1997; 13(3): 251-5.
 
[11]  Backonja M, Glanzman RL. Gabapentin dosing for neuropathic pain: evidence from randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials.ClinTher 2003; 25(1): 81-104.
 
[12]  Melzack R. The Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Pain 1987; 30: 191-7.
 
[13]  Martin S, Chandran A, Zografos L, Zlateva G. Evaluation of the impact of fibromyalgia on patients sleep and the content validity of two sleep scales. Health Qual Life Outcomes2009; 7: 64.
 
[14]  Kasimcan O, Kaptan H. Efficacy of gabapentin for radiculopathy caused by lumbar spinal stenosis and lumbar disk hernia. Neurol Med Chir 2010; 50(12): 1070-3.
 
[15]  Dallocchio C, Buffa C, Mazzarello P, Chiroli S. Gabapentin vs. amitriptyline in painfuldiabetic neuropathy: an open-label pilot study.J Pain Symptom Manage 2000; 20: 280-5.
 
[16]  Rice ASC, Maton S. Gabapentin in postherpetic neuralgia: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled study. Pain 2001; 94(2): 215-24.
 
[17]  Pandey CK, Bose N, Garg G, Singh N, Baronia A, Agarwal A, et al. Gabapentin for the treatment of pain in guillain-barré syndrome: a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study. AnesthAnalg 2002; 95(6): 1719-23.
 
[18]  Rowbotham M, Harden N, Stacey B, Bernstein P, Magnus L. Gabapentin for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998; 280(21): 1837-42.
 
[19]  Singh D, Kennedy DH. The use of gabapentin for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. ClinTher. 2003; 25(3):852-89.
 
[20]  Bone M, Critchley P, Buggy DJ. Gabapentin in postamputation phantom limb pain: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over study. RegAnesth Pain Med 2002; 27(5): 481-6.
 
[21]  Hui ACF, Wong SM, Leung HW, Man BL, Yu E, Wong LKS. Gabapentin for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Eur J Neurol 2011; 18(5): 726-30.
 
[22]  Gilron I,Bailey JM, Tu D,Holden RR, Jackson AC, Houlden RL. Nortriptyline and gabapentin, alone and in combination for neuropathic pain: a double-blind, randomised controlled crossover trial. The Lancet 2009; 374(9697): 1252-61.
 
[23]  Erdemoglu AK. The efficacy and safety of gabapentin in carpal tunnel patients: Open label trial. Neurol India 2009; 57(3): 300-3.