The Effects of Different Doses of Gabapentin on Relieving Pain Due to Cesarean Section: A Randomized Clinical Trial

 Some types of major surgeries are associated with postoperative pain, sometimes during the days after surgery. These pains mainly lead to the use of various analgesics and, ultimately, patient dissatisfaction. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of gabapentin at doses of 600 and 1200 mg on relieving pain due to cesarean section.

 In this randomized clinical trial, patients were randomly divided into three equal-size groups (25 patients in each group) through balanced block randomization. The first group was given 600 mg of gabapentin, the second group was given 1200 mg of gabapentin one hour before surgery, and the control group received a placebo. The pain intensity, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness, as well as the need for postoperative analgesics, were assessed initially and at 2, 6, and 12 hours after surgery. The occurrence of nausea and drowsiness between groups was compared using the chi-square and Fisher's exact tests.

 The mean (SD) age of patients in the gabapentin 1200 mg, gabapentin 600 mg, and placebo groups was 26.32±6.15, 27.43±6.38, and 26.59±5.88, respectively (P=0.34). Pain intensity and the rate of analgesic consumption at different time points during the first 12 hours of surgery were significantly lower in the receiving gabapentin groups than in the placebo group (P<0.05). Comparing the prevalence rates of nausea and vomiting and also drowsiness, as the drug-related side effects don’t show a significant difference across the three groups at the different investigated time points (P>0.05).

Gabapentin with a minimum therapeutic dose can successfully reduce postoperative pain intensity and also needs analgesic use after a cesarean section.