Comparative Efficacy of Gabapentin and Diclofenac Sodium for Post-Operative Pain Relief in Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgeries
Keywords:
Gabapentin, diclofenac sodium, post-operative pain, rescue analgesia, surgeryAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of gabapentin versus diclofenac sodium for post-surgery pain relief in patients undergoing major abdominal surgeries.
METHODOLOGY: This randomized controlled trial was performed at the Department of Anaesthesia, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College/Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, from August 2022 to February 2023. The consecutive sampling technique was adopted. Two hundred and forty patients aged 18–60 years, undergoing elective major abdominal surgery, were randomized to receive oral gabapentin 600 mg or diclofenac sodium 100 mg one hour before induction. Pain intensity was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) postoperatively, and efficacy was defined as VAS ? 3 without rescue analgesia (tramadol 1 mg/kg IV). Data were analyzed in SPSS v26.0.
RESULTS: In a total of 240 patients, 142 (59.2%) were male. The median age was 38.2 years (IQR 29.3–49.8), and the median BMI was 25.6 kg/m² (IQR 23.4–28.2). Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were present in 115 (47.9%) and 94 (39.2%) patients, respectively. Effective postoperative pain relief was achieved in 70 (58.3%) patients receiving gabapentin, versus 54 (45.0%) receiving diclofenac (p=0.039). The median time to first analgesic demand was longer with gabapentin (p=0.004). Rescue analgesia was required in 45 (37.5%) patients, compared with 69 (57.5%) patients (p=0.002).
CONCLUSION: Among patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, gabapentin provided superior postoperative analgesia compared with diclofenac sodium.
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