Comparing the effects of pre-emptive oxycodone, diclofenac, and gabapentin on postoperative pain after tibia fracture surgery: A randomized clinical trail.

Background: Postoperative pain (POP) is one of the most common and most important types of pain.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of pre-emptive oxycodone, diclofenac, and gabapentin on postoperative pain (POP) among patients with tibia fracture surgery.

Materials and methods: This double-blind three-group randomised controlled trial was conducted in 2023. Participants were 111 candidates for tibia fracture surgery under general anaesthesia. They were randomly allocated to oxycodone, gabapentin, and diclofenac groups through block randomisation. Baseline arterial oxygen saturation, heart rate, and blood pressure were documented before surgery and POP and sedation status were measured during postoperative recovery and 2, 4, 6, 12, and 24 h after surgery. Postoperative opioid analgesic use was also documented. The data were analysed using the SPSS software (v. 20.0) at a significance level of less than 0.05.

Results: Groups did not significantly differ from each other respecting participants' baseline age, gender, body mass index, arterial oxygen saturation, heart rate, blood pressure, and surgery duration (P > 0.05). Moreover, there were no significant differences among the groups respecting POP and sedation status at different measurement time points (P > 0.05), except for six hours after surgery at which the POP mean score in the gabapentin group was significantly less than the other two groups (P = 0.001). Among-group differences respecting postoperative use of opioid analgesics and medication side effects were also insignificant (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Pre-emptive oxycodone, diclofenac, and gabapentin significantly reduce POP among patients with tibia fracture surgery, though gabapentin may produce more significant analgesic effects. All these three medications can be used for pre-emptive analgesia. Of course, the best pre-emptive analgesic agent is determined based on the opinion of the treating physician.