Background: Pregabalin which is a GABA analogue when administered orally in preoperative period has been reported to prolong the blockade of spinal anaesthesia and reduce acute postoperative pain. So we designed the study to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of oral pregabalin in terms of duration of spinal blockade and need for rescue analgesia.

Materials and Methods: A prospective, randomised, double blind study was carried out on 50 patients with ASA physical status I & II aged between 18–50 years. Both the groups received tablets 1 hour prior to spinal anaesthesia. Group C (control group)- received colour matched placebo, while Group P (pregabalin group)– received 150mg of oral pregabalin. Spinal anaesthesia was administered to the patients in sitting position in L3-L4 space with Inj. Bupivacaine heavy (0.5%) at a dose of 0.3mg/kg body weight using 25 gauge spinal needle. Rescue analgesia was provided with using Inj. Diclofenac 1.5 mg/kg intramuscular.

Results: The duration of sensory and motor blockade was significantly prolonged in group P patients when compared with that in group C patients, and the VAS scores at postoperative 6 and 24 hours were significantly lower in group P patients. Requests for analgesics during the first postoperative 24 hours were lower among group P patients.

Conclusion: Premedication with a single dose of 150mg oral pregabalin 1 hr before surgery promoted the efficacy of spinal anaesthesia and improved postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing for lower limb orthopedic surgery under spinal anesthesia.

Keywords: oral pregabalin, spinal anaesthesia, post‑operative pain, visual analogue scale.

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Vijay Patil

Assistant Professor, Department of Anaesthesia, GMC, Nagpur

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