A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Pregabalin for Relief of Shoulder Pain after Laparoscopic Gynecologic Surgery

Abstract Study Objective To investigate the efficacy of pregabalin for the relief of postoperative shoulder pain after laparoscopic gynecologic surgery. Design Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Canadian Task Force classification I). Setting Tertiary referral center, university hospital. Patients Fifty-six women undergoing elective laparoscopic gynecologic surgery between June 2012 and March 2013. Interventions Women in the study group received 75 mg pregabalin 2 hours before surgery and then every 12 hours for 2 doses, and women in the control group received an identical capsule and the same dosage of placebo. Measurements and Main Results Visual analog scale (VAS) scores for shoulder pain and surgical pain at 24 and 48 hours after surgery were evaluated as primary outcome. Postoperative analgesics used and drug-related adverse events were also monitored. Patients in the pregabalin group had significantly lower postoperative VAS scores for shoulder pain at 24 hours, compared with the placebo group (median, 23.14 [range, 13.67–32.61] vs 37.22 [27.75–46.64]; p = .04), and required less analgesic (p = .01). There were no significant differences in VAS scores for surgical pain and adverse events between the 2 groups (p = .56). Conclusions Perioperative administration of 75 mg pregabalin significantly reduced postoperative laparoscopic shoulder pain and amount of analgesic used.