title: Role of flupirtine as a preemptive analgesic in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Postsurgical pain is the leading complaint after laparoscopic cholecystectomy that may delay the postoperative recovery and hence we undertook a prospective randomized trial to analyze the role of flupirtine as a preemptive analgesic for postoperative pain relief in patients undergoing above surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 66 cases were randomly assigned to two groups to receive capsule flupirtine (200 mg) or capsule vitamin B complex administered orally, 2 h before the laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery. Time to first analgesic requirement, assessment of postoperative pain in terms of visual analog score, and analgesic requirement postoperatively were measured as a primary outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Time to first analgesic requirement was significantly prolonged in the flupirtine group as compared with the placebo group. There was significant pain reduction in early postoperative period (up to 4 h), but no changes occurred thereafter. Total analgesic requirement (including rescue analgesia) and side-effects were comparable between the groups except for higher sedation in flupirtine group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Flupirtine is effective as a preemptive analgesic in providing adequate pain relief during the immediate postoperative period after laparoscopic cholecystectomy surgery. However, continuation of drug therapy postoperatively could possibly delineate its optimal analgesic profile more profoundly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ghanshyam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shailaja Shankar
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Behera
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Saurabh Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Sujali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choupoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Janak
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raj
keywords: Flupirtine; laparoscopic cholecystectomy; preemptive analgesia