Comparison of pretreatment gabapentin and pregabalin to control postoperative endodontic pain - a double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

Background: Postoperative endodontic pain is an enigma for the dentist. This study aimed to evaluate the analgesic effect of 300 mg gabapentin or 75 mg pregabalin in reducing postoperative endodontic pain compared with a placebo.

Methods: Ninety patients who needed root canal treatment with an initial numerical rating scale (NRS) pain score of > 4 (T0) were randomly divided into three groups (n=30). Patients were then administered either 300 mg gabapentin (group A), 75 mg pregabalin (group B), or a placebo (group C) 30 min prior to the start of endodontic treatment. A single operator performed single-visit endodontics, and pain was evaluated immediately after endodontic treatment (T1) and at 4 h (T2), 8 h (T3), 12 h (T4), 24 h (T5), 48 h (T6), and 72 h (T7) using the NRS. Ibuprofen/paracetamol (400 mg/325 mg) was administered as a rescue dose if needed.

Results: Pregabalin performed significantly better when compared with gabapentin at all time points except at 72 h after treatment (P=0.170). The placebo group showed significantly higher pain scores than the other two groups. The percentage of pain relief was maximum for pregabalin (92.1%), followed by gabapentin (87.6%) and placebo (69.1%) at 72 h after treatment completion.

Conclusion: This study showed that pretreatment with a single dose of pregabalin and gabapentin both had greater analgesic effects than a placebo. They can be effectively used to reduce postoperative endodontic pain.