The Effect of Gabapentin for the Clinical Symptoms in the Traumatic Neuropathic Pain

외상성 신경병증성 통증의 각 임상증상에 대한 Gabapentin의 효과

Background: Gabapentin is widely used for the relief of neuropathic pain. But, there is no study of gabapentin in relation to traumatic neuropathic pain. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy and effectiveness of gabapentin for the various clinical symptoms of traumatic neuropathic pain Materials and Methods: 50 patients with traumatic nerve injury were assigned to receive gabapentin, titrated to 900 mg/day over 9 days, followed by further increases to a maximum of 2400 mg/day. Continuous pain, paroxysmal pain, allodynia and thermal evoked pain were measured in mean daily pain scores, based on the 11-point Likert scale. The primary efficacy parameter was compared from the baseline to the final study week. Results: Over the 4.5 week study, this pain score decreased by 2.6 points in the continuous pain, 3.6 points in the paroxysmal pain, 3.1 points in the allodynia, and 2.5 points in the thermal evoked pain. The percentage of patients with over 50% improvement in pain scores was 33% in the continuous pain, 67% in the paroxysmal pain, 53% in the allodynia and 36% in the thermal evoked pain. There was no significant correlation between the effect of gabapentin and the time difference of the onset of symptoms and start of medication. Conclusions: This study shows that gabapentin reduced neuropathic pain in patients with traumatic peripheral nerve injury. Among the various characteristics of neuropathic pain, the reduction of paroxysmal pain and allodynia was greatest.

외상성 신경손상으로 인한 신경병증성 통증을 호소하는 환자에게 gabapentin을 투여하였을 때 신경병증성 통증의 각 증상 모두 유의하게 감소하였다. 신경병증성 통증의 각 증상 중 발작성 자발통이 열성 유발통보다 더욱 유의하게 감소하였다.