Comparison of the Efficacy of Duloxetine Versus Pregabalin for Pain Relief of Neuropathy in Diabetics

Background: Neuropathy is a common complication in diabetic patients with clinical manifestations of feet and hands paresthesia, pain in the lower legs, and a burning sensation in the soles. A wide variety of medications are used for diabetic neuropathy with varying degrees of pain relief reported. The study objective was to compare the efficacy of duloxetine versus pregabalin for pain relief of neuropathy in diabetics. Methods: The study was a six-week, single-blind, Randomized Controlled Trial conducted at HBS Medical and Dental College and Hospital in Islamabad. Patients were randomly designated to either of the groups (A or B) with 50 participants in each group. Group A received 150mg of pregabalin twice a day while group B received 60mg of duloxetine once a day. Pain relief was the primary outcome which was considered as a ≥ 50% decrease in pain score on the Visual Analog Scale at 6 weeks from baseline. Results: A total of 100 diabetic patients were registered in the study. The mean age in groups A&B was 48.36 and 50.56 (SD± 6.64) years respectively. The majority of the study population were males 39 (78%) and 42 (84%) in both groups. A total of 66% (n=33) in Group A and 74% (n=37) of the patients in Group B achieved pain relief. A comparison of the pain relief achieved between the two groups showed no statistical significance (p-value 0.383). Conclusion: The study revealed that duloxetine and pregabalin are both efficacious in terms of pain relief for diabetic neuropathy in our population.