Randomized controlled trial on pregablin treating patients with central post stroke pain

AIM To investigate the efficacy and safety of pregabalin in the treatment of central post stroke pain.METHODS Sixty-five patients were randomly divided to pregabalin group(n = 22),gabapentin group(n = 21) and amitriptyline group(n = 22).The three groups were treated by pregabalin(150 ~ 300 mg.d-1,divided to 2 ~ 3 times,po),gabapentin(300 ~ 1 800 mg.d-1,divided to 1 ~ 3 times,po) and amitriptyline(25 ~ 150 mg.d-1,divided to 2 ~ 3 times,po) respectively for 8 successive weeks.The numeric rating scale(NRS),pain relief(PAR),excellent rate,total effective rate and the adverse drug reactions were recorded pretherapy and in the third day,and the first,second,fourth,and eighth weeks after the therapy.RESULTS Compared with before the treatment,NRS score in the pregabalin group in the third day after the treatment was significantly lower(P 0.05),and remarkably decreased in the first,second,fourth,and eighth week after the treatment(P 0.01).NRS score in the pregabalin group was lower than that of the gabapentin group and the amitriptyline group at the same time points after the treatment(P 0.05).PAR in the pregabalin group was better than that of the gabapentin group and the amitriptyline group at the same time points after the treatment.The excellent rate and the total effective rate of the pregabalin group were higher than those of the gabapentin group and the amitriptyline group at the same time points after the treatment,showing statistical difference(P 0.01).The adverse drug reactions throughout 8 weeks in the pregabalin group were mainly dizziness(18%) and somnolence(14%).There was no significant difference in the incidences of dizziness and somnolence between the pregabalin group and the gabapentin group(P 0.05),but the incidences of dizziness and somnolence in the pregabalin group were lower than those in the amitriptyline group,showing statistical difference(P 0.05).CONCLUSION Pregabalin is effective and safe for the treatment of central post-stroke pain.The clinical efficacy and tolerance of pregabalin are better than gabapentin or amitriptyline.