Gabapentin therapy in patients with orofacial neuropathic pain: Report of 12 cases

Abstract Objective There are several types of orofacial neuropathic pain and some of these types are often refractory to treatment. Gabapentin is an oral antiepileptic agent with a proven analgesic effect in various traumatic neuropathic pain syndromes. We retrospectively examined the analgesic effect of gabapentin on non-dental and non-traumatic orofacial neuropathic pain. Subjects and methods This study included 12 patients. All patients showed an excessive response to noxious (hyperalgesia) and/or innocuous (allodynia) stimuli in the affected region. Gabapentin therapy was initiated with a dosage of 200–600mg/day. Pain intensity was assessed using a modified numerical rating scale (m-NRS) (0, no pain; 10, pain equal to that experienced on the day gabapentin therapy was initiated). In addition, the side effects were also recorded. Results All the patients had received medications for their pain prior to referral, but the drugs failed to provide adequate relief from their neuropathic pain. The m-NRS scores for all patients started decreasing within 7 days after internal use was initiated. The average time taken for the m-NRS score to decrease to half was 3.3 (1.7) days. Side effects were observed in 2 patients. Conclusion We concluded that gabapentin therapy is efficacious for the treatment of orofacial neuropathic pain in selected patients.