• Chandra Kant Pandey, Surabhi Sahay, Devendra Gupta, Sushil Prakash Ambesh, Ram Badan Singh, Mehdi Raza, Uttam Singh, and Prabhat Kumar Singh.
• Department of Anaesthesiology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226014, India. ckpandey@sgpgi.ac.in
• Can J Anaesth. 2004 Dec 1;51(10):986-9.

PurposeWe investigated whether the preemptive use of gabapentin, a structural analogue of gamma amino butyric acid could reduce postoperative pain and fentanyl consumption in patients after single-level lumbar discoidectomy.MethodsFifty-six ASA I and II patients were randomly allocated into two equal groups to receive either gabapentin 300 mg or placebo two hours before surgery. After surgery, the pain was assessed on a visual analogue scale (VAS) at intervals of 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, and 18-24 hr at rest. Total fentanyl consumption in the first 24 hr after surgery was also recorded. Fentanyl 2 mug.kg(-1) intravenously was used to treat postoperative pain on patients' demand.ResultsPatients in the gabapentin group had significantly lower VAS scores at all time intervals of 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, and 18-24 hr than those in the placebo group (3.5 +/- 2.3, 3.2 +/- 2.1, 1.8 +/- 1.7, 1.2 +/- 1.3 vs 6.1 +/- 1.7, 4.4 +/- 1.2, 3.3 +/- 1.1, 2.1 +/- 1.2; P < 0.05). The total fentanyl consumed after surgery in the first 24 hr in the gabapentin group (233.5 +/- 141.9, mean + SD) was significantly less than in the placebo group (359.6 +/- 104.1; P < 0.05).ConclusionPreemptive gabapentin 300 mg po significantly decreases the severity of pain postoperatively in patients who undergo single-level lumbar discoidectomy.

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