Acute pain management in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Is there a role for pregabalin? A review

Postoperative pain management has become pre-requisite for early recovery after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the ideal management of it is definitely multimodal due to the complexity of its nature. Many analgesic approaches have already been tested to relieve pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and anticonvulsants drugs, like pregabalin and gabapentin might be useful and effective.Pregabalin is an antiepileptic drug that is often used to treat neuropathic pain. The use of pregabalin as part of multimodal analgesia is still under evaluation and may have a role in the postoperative management, as an adjunct. Several studies have evaluated the efficacy and adverse effects of pregabalin in reducing postoperative pain and opioid consumption.In this review, we discuss the role of pregabalin in acute postoperative management after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Based on available clinical trials it is difficult to draw solid conclusions. More studies and especially well designed clinical trials are required in order to clarify the optimal dose and the duration of therapy before adopting pregabalin in routine clinical practice.