Evaluation of Pregabaline Efficiency in Reducing Opioid Use and Pain in Post-Operating Patients Subject to Total Knee Arthroplasty Surgery

Abstract

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a very efficient surgical process in the treatment of degenerative knee changes. However, this procedure involves extensive tissue trauma, which contributes to the occurrence of severe postoperative pain. In this sense, pregabalin seems to be effective when administered before surgery with significant pain reduction and consequently the amount of opioid used postoperatively. Considering the importance of the subject and considering that there is no work in Alagoas and or Northeast Brazilian populations that justifies the advantages of using Pregabalin in the preoperative period of TKA, this study aims to gather information collected from patients operated at Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Maceió in a period of one year. Thirty-six patients were studied during the research, where four were excluded due to data collection failure. The main indications for TKA were 2 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 16 with arthrosis and 13 with refractory pain. In this context, pregabalin has recognized side effects, but in the study, it was observed safety in the administration of this drug in the patient group 24 hours before the surgical procedure compared to the patient group 1 hour earlier as shown in Table 1. A greater reduction was observed. of pain according to VAS pain 24 and 48 hours after surgery, in the pregabalin group 24 hours before, in relation to the others. No decrease in postoperative opiod use was observed, as no study group achieved a VAS pain lower than 3 points over the length of stay. Therefore, a larger study with larger patient samples and case-controls is needed to obtain significant results.