Effectiveness and Safety of 75 mg and 150 mg Pregabalin for Postoperative Analgesia in Breast Cancer Surgery - A Randomized Double-Blinded Trial

Q: What was the objective of the study?

To compare the effectiveness and safety of oral pregabalin 75 mg versus 150 mg used as premedication 1 hour before breast cancer surgery.

Q: How were patients assigned and what interventions were compared?

Ninety patients were enrolled and randomized into three groups: P75 received 75 mg pregabalin, P150 received 150 mg pregabalin, and C received placebo.

Q: Which dose showed better pain relief and what was the trade-off?

Pain was lowest and analgesia duration was highest with the 150 mg group. However, sedation—especially somnolence—was significantly higher with 150 mg, while other side effects were not statistically significant.

Sep 30, 2026

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Pregabalin is used as a preemptive analgesic to improve postoperative pain control. This prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial compared oral pregabalin 75 mg and 150 mg administered 1 hour before breast cancer surgery with placebo in 90 patients. Postoperative pain, sedation, tramadol consumption, and adverse effects were assessed. Pain and analgesia duration favored higher-dose pregabalin, while sedation and somnolence were more frequent with 150 mg.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Materials and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Rationale for Preemptive Analgesia

Mechanism of Pregabalin

Original Article Effectiveness and Safety of 75 mg and 150 mg Pregabalin for Postoperative Analgesia in Breast Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Double‑Blinded Trial Abstract Background: Pregabalin is being used as preemptive analgesic for better postoperative pain management. This present study was aimed at comparing effectiveness and safety of 75 mg and 150 mg of oral pregabalin given as premedication 1 h before the surgery. Materials and Methods: This was prospective, randomized, and double‑blinded placebo controlled study in which 90 patients were enrolled and randomized into three groups of 30 patients each. Groups P75 (given 75 mg pregabalin), P150 (given 150 mg pregabalin) and C (given placebo drug) . Postoperative pain and sedation assessment were done. Adverse effects such as somnolence, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting were noted. Results: Pain was lowest in P150 group than P75 and control group at 2 h. The duration of analgesia was highest in the P150 group followed by the P75 group with the control group showing the shortest duration. A significant difference was observed in total tramadol consumption (P < 0.001) in three groups. Sedation scores were the highest in P150 followed by P75 and C (P < 0.001) during the 1st h. Somnolence was the highest in P150 group which was statistically significant. Difference in other side effects such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, and dryness of mouth was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Pregabalinis a safe drug and has good analgesic effect. Although the analgesic effectiveness of higher dose, i.e., 150 mg was better, adverse effect in terms of sedation was more. Hence, we suggest pregabalin 75 mg to be used preoperatively as it has demonstrated to have good analgesic effectiveness. Keywords: Breast carcinoma, postoperative analgesia, preemptive analgesia, pregabalin Introduction Breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy in females. The most common modality of treatment for breast cancer is surgery. Postoperative pain management after surgery is crucial for achieving patient satisfaction, reducing complications, facilitating quick recovery, and hospital discharge. Inadequate pain control after surgery can lead to chronic pain which is very common in breast surgery patients and can lead to poor quality of life.[1] The major goal in the management of postoperative pain is providing adequate analgesia and minimizing the dose of medications to decrease the adverse effects. This is done by multidisciplinary approach for pain relief. Regional analgesia, opioids, and several nonopioid analgesics are being used for the treatment of acute pain after breast cancer surgery.[2] Opioid This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License (CC BY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal. For reprints [contact:](contact: WKHLRPMedknow_reprints@wolterskluwer.com)[ WKHLRPMedknow_reprints@wolterskluwer.com](contact: WKHLRPMedknow_reprints@wolterskluwer.com) use is associated with large number of adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, pruritus, urinary retention, and respiratory depression. Regional analgesia techniques require additional intervention and have the potential risk of complications. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs can lead to gastrointestinal bleeding, renal toxicity, and thromboembolic complications. There is a need for an ideal drug for acute perioperative analgesia which has opioid‑sparing analgesic effect, an anxiolytic property without the adverse effects of traditional analgesics.[3] Preemptive analgesia are the medications which are given before the procedure which prevent the development of central sensitization caused by incisional injuries and inflammatory injuries of surgery and reduce the requi

FAQs

What was the objective of the study?

To compare the effectiveness and safety of oral pregabalin 75 mg versus 150 mg used as premedication 1 hour before breast cancer surgery.

How were patients assigned and what interventions were compared?

Ninety patients were enrolled and randomized into three groups: P75 received 75 mg pregabalin, P150 received 150 mg pregabalin, and C received placebo.

Which dose showed better pain relief and what was the trade-off?

Pain was lowest and analgesia duration was highest with the 150 mg group. However, sedation—especially somnolence—was significantly higher with 150 mg, while other side effects were not statistically significant.

Sep 30, 2026

Upload by CatatanPagi