Abstract
BACKGROUND: Central nervous sensitization, following surgical injury, leads to postoperative pain hypersensitivity due to lowered pain threshold in peripheral nociceptors and increased excitability of spinal neurons. Pre-emptive analgesia is intended to decrease pain perception and overall analgesic need by use of drug regimen, seizing CNS sensitization before exposure to painful stimuli. Few studies support pre-emptive analgesic efficacy of novel antiepileptic agent Gabapentin. Though Topiramate and Lamotrigine have been proven analgesic in animal models of chronic pain and clinical studies of Gabapentin-resistant neuropathic pain, literature search revealed scarce data on its pre-emptive analgesic efficacy. PURPOSE: This study is designed to study and compare the pre-emptive analgesic efficacy of Lamotrigine, Topiramate, and Diclofenac sodium in postoperative pain control. METHODS: This randomized clinical trial included 90 patients of either sex, between 18 and 70 years undergoing major surgeries. Patients were randomly allocated to control and test groups and received respective treatment 30 min before induction of anesthesia. Aldrete's and pain scores were recorded using the Visual Analog Scale, Facial and Behavioral Rating Scale at awakening and at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 h. Postoperative rescue analgesic consumption for 24 h was recorded. RESULTS: Significantly higher pain scores were observed in the Topiramate group postoperatively for 2 h on all pain scales (p < 0.05), whereas in the control group it was significantly higher at 1 h (p < 0.05). Lamotrigine-treated patients were more comfortable throughout the study with significantly less (p < 0.05) postoperative analgesic requirement. CONCLUSIONS: Study results strongly suggest the pre-emptive analgesic efficacy of a single oral dose of Lamotrigine over Diclofenac and Topiramate in postoperative pain control.