The efficacy of pregabalin for acute pain control in herpetic neuralgia patients

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to illustrate the efficacy and safety of preganalin for pain management in patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Methods: In July 2017, a systematic computer-based search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google database. Data on patients with PHN that compared pregabalin versus placebo were retrieved. The endpoints were the visual analog scale (VAS) at 8 weeks, the percentage of 30% and 50% pain responders; sleep interference score and improvement in patient global impression of change (PGIC). After testing for publication bias and heterogeneity between studies, data were aggregated for random-effects models when necessary. Results:Seven clinical studies with 2192 patients (pregabalin group=1381, control group=811) were finally included in the metaanalysis. Pregabalin was associated with reduced pain scores at 8 weeks, corresponding to a reduction of 11.23 points (95% CI, 14.33, 8.13, P= .000) on a 100-point VAS. Pregabalin was also associated with a more percentage of 30% and 50% pain responders than controls (P< .05). Meanwhile, pregabalin can decrease sleep interference score and improvement in PGIC than control groups (P< .05). Conclusions:Pregabalin was efficacious in the reduction of postoperative pain and improvement the sleep quality in patients with PHN. Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval, NNH = number needed to harm, NNT = number need to treat, NRS = numerical rating scale, PRISMA= preferred reporting items for systematic reviews andmeta-analyses, RCTs= randomized controlled trials, RR= risk ratio, SD = standard deviation, SMD = standard mean difference, VAS = visual analog scale, WMD = weighted mean differences.