Are Gabapentinoids Effective at Reducing Pain and Improving Sleep After Nerve Injury? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Gabapentinoids are increasingly prescribed off-label to reduce the intensity of peripheral nerve injury-related pain and improve sleep. However, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing gabapentinoids to placebo show differing results, and the crossover design used in some of these trials carries a significant risk of unblinding. Considering that side effects of gabapentinoids are common and misuse is increasing, we pooled the blinded data to provide the best available evidence on the efficacy of gabapentinoids compared with placebo.