The aim of this study was to provide evidence regarding the real-life efficacy of pregabalin in the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain (NeP) in Denmark.
This present
study shows that the pain severity and quality of life were improved with the
onset of pregabalin treatment for peripheral neuropathic pain (NeP). With
respect to titration of pregabalin dosage, this daily practice based study plan
may be beneficial for individual patient treatment.
The aim of this
study was to provide evidence regarding the real-life efficacy of pregabalin in
the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain (NeP) in Denmark.
In this
prospective, observational, noninterventional study, pregabalin (Lyrica®) was
prescribed following usual clinical practice. Compared with baseline, the
primary study end points after 3 months of observation were changes in 1) the
average level of pain during the past week, 2) the worst level of pain during
the past week, and 3) the least level of pain during the past week. The Wilcoxon
signed-rank test was used to perform paired analyses, and a multivariate
regression analysis investigated factors driving change in pain.
A total of 86 of
the 128 patients included were regarded as efficacy evaluable (those completing
3 months of pregabalin treatment). Patients (59 years) were long-time sufferers
of peripheral NeP, and 38% of them had comorbidities. The majority had
previously been treated with tricyclic antidepressants or gabapentin. The
average dose of pregabalin was 81.5 mg/d at baseline and 240 mg/d after 3
months. A clinically and statistically significant improvement of 2.2 points in
the average level of pain intensity was found after 3 months. The higher the
pain intensity at baseline, the higher was the reduction of the pain score.
Positive results were also found for pain-related sleep interference, patients’
global impression of change, quality of life, and work and productivity
impairment. Twenty-one patients reported 28 adverse events.
This real-life study
indicates that for some patients (two-thirds), addition of pregabalin for
peripheral NeP helps to reduce their pain intensity significantly.
J Pain Res. 2016; 9: 293–302
Real-life efficacy of pregabalin for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain in daily clinical practice in Denmark: the NEP-TUNE study
Crawford ME et al.
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