Does a Perioperative Course of Gabapentin Improve Analgesia After Cesarean Delivery?

Summary

Gabapentin has been very effective at treating pain after knee and hip operations, hysterectomies, and many other types of operations. A previous study at the investigators' hospital found that a single pre-operative dose of 600mg gabapentin produced a significant reduction in pain after cesarean section. However, 19% of patients complained of sedation. A subsequent study at the same institution looked to see if lowering the dose to 300mg would decrease pain scores whilst reducing the sedative side-effect seen in the first trial. The results were inconclusive but it provided valuable information to guide the design of this study. The purpose of this study is to see whether a preoperative dose of gabapentin, followed by a 48 hour low-dose course will produce improvement in pain scores. This study will compare the efficacy of a peri-operative course of gabapentin (600mg one hour before the operation and 200mg every 8 hours for 2 days post-operatively) and a similar course of placebo in women undergoing Cesarean section. The investigators' hypothesis is that a course of gabapentin will result in decreased pain scores and increased satisfaction.

Timeline

Start

2013-05

Primary completion

2013-12

Completion

2014-02

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.