title: The effects of oral pregabalin on post-operative pain of lower limb orthopedic surgery: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Post-operative pain is one of the problems, wherein lack of control on it has many side-effects such as tachycardia, hypertension, myocardial ischemia, decreased alveolar ventilation, and poor wound healing.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we evaluated the pre-operative administration of pregabalin sufficiency and security in relieving post-operative pain after lower limb orthopedic surgery and reducing the need for opioids and their possible side-effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a randomized, double-blind clinical trial. It was performed on 60 patients under lower limb surgery by spinal anesthesia. Patients were randomly allocated to two groups, one group has received a 150 mg pregabalin capsule 2 h before surgery and the other group has received placebo as a control. In both groups at 2, 6, 12, and 24 h after surgery, the patients were evaluated and the pain score, the score of sedation, incidence of nausea and vomiting was recorded in the checklists. Then, the data were analyzed by SPSS v16.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Visual analog pain scores at all hours in pregabalin group significantly reduced compared to the placebo group (P < 0.0001). Also, in the pregabalin group nausea and vomiting scores at all hours, sedation levels at 2 h and 6 h post-operatively, and pethidine consumption in all hours have significantly been reduced.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A single pre-operative oral dose of pregabalin 150 mg is an effective method for reducing post-operative pain and pethidine consumption in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Godrat
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Akhavanakbari
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Entezariasl
authors.forename: Khatereh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Isazadehfar
authors.forename: Tiba
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mirzarahimi
keywords: Pethidine; post-operative pain; pregabalin; visual analogue scale