The Efficacy of Gabapentin for Postoperative Pain Management Following Total Hip Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Postoperative pain following total hip arthroplasty (THA) impacts patients' rehabilitation and quality of life. Although gabapentin has been widely used for pain control, its effectiveness in hip arthroplasty is not well established. The aim of our systematic review is to evaluate the effect of gabapentin on postoperative pain after THA.

A systematic search was conducted in three databases: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase, through OVID, using the keywords gabapentin, pain, and hip arthroplasty, with no restrictions on language or publication date. To evaluate the quality of the articles, the Cochrane Collaboration tool was used.

Five studies, including 728 patients, were included in our systematic review. Gabapentin 600 mg was used in three and 1200 mg in two studies. The results of these studies showed that gabapentin had no significant effect on pain or morphine consumption after THA. Besides, gabapentin use was associated with side effects such as rash, nausea, headache, vomiting, and pruritus.

Gabapentin does not decrease pain or morphine consumption after THA. However, future studies with a larger sample size and longer follow-up period are required.