Effect of gabapentin in comparison with hydrocortisone on postlaparoscopic cholecystectomy pain control

Abstract

Background and Aim: Although laparoscopic cholecystectomy causes less pain than open cholecystectomy, it is still not completely painless. Several methods have been used to relieve the pain of laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this research was to compare the effect of gabapentin and hydrocortisone on pain control after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Materials and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, a total of 60 adult patients aged 18–70 years from both sexes American Society of Anesthesiologists Classification (ASA Classification 1 and 2) who were selected for laparoscopic cholecystectomy were divided into two groups of 30 subjects to be studied. 150 mg gabapentin and 100 mg hydrocortisone were administered to the first and second groups before the operation, respectively. Pain score and vital signs (systolic blood pressure and heart rate) were recorded. Data were fed into SPSS 23 software and analyzed using Fisher-test, independent t-test, and repeated measurement. P 0.05), VAS score 24 hours after operation was 2.87 ± 1.57 and 3.92 ± 1.28 in gabapentin and hydrocortisone groups, respectively (P < 0.05), indicating a significant difference in VAS score between the two groups 2 and 24 h postoperation. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that gabapentin was more effective than hydrocortisone within the first 4 h of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In addition, gabapentin was shown to be a better pain controller 24 h postoperation.

Keywords

• Gabapentin
• hydrocortisone
• laparoscopic cholecystectomy
• pain