A Cross-sectional Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Pregabalin Use in Young Adults of a Tertiary Care Indian Setting

Abstract

Neuropathic pain refers to the illness that affects the somatosensory nerve system which is characterised by spontaneous pain and pathologically increased sensitivity to both noxious and benign stimuli. The purpose of this study was to compare the short-term therapy of young adults with chronic neuropathic pain with gabapentin in order to assess the safety and effectiveness of pregabalin. In cooperation with the Department of Pharmacology at a tertiary care facility in India, the outpatient departments of neurology, orthopaedics, general medicine, and psychiatry undertook this prospective, comparative, randomised, open-label, single-centre cross-sectional study. One hundred and thirty-five patients in Group A received 75 mg of pregabalin and were then given 150 mg of pregabalin twice a day. One hundred thirty-five participants in Group B received 300 mg of gabapentin. The Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) was used to quantify pain intensity at baseline, 1 month, and 2 months later in order to compare the negative effects of pregabalin to those of gabapentin. When comparing the two groups’ NPRS scores at baseline, 1 month, and 2 months, Group A (pregabalin) had a comparatively lower NPRS score. At baseline, Group A had a mean ± SD score of 8.5 ± 1.25, when compared to Group B with 8.7 ± 1.20. After 2 months, Group A had a mean ± SD score of 2.5 ± 1.50, when compared to Group B with 4.5 ± 1.80, respectively, which was statistically significant with P < .001. This study suggests that gabapentin and pregabalin are equally effective at reducing pain in persons with neuropathic pain. In terms of NPRS score, pregabalin performs better than gabapentin.