Randomized trial of preoperative administration of oral pregabalin for postoperative analgesia in patients scheduled for radiofrequency ablation of focal lesions in the liver

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient characteristics of the studied groups.

Variable	Group I (n = 35)	Group II (n = 35)	p value*
Age (year) mean ± SD	48.89 ± 5.95	49.86 ± 5.95	0.50
Sex
Male (%)	20 (57.1%)	22(62.9%)	0.63
Female (%)	15(42.9%)	13 (37.1%)
CTP class			0.81
(A) NO (%)	15 (42.9%)	16(45.7%)
(B) NO (%)	20 (57.1%)	19(54.3%)
BMI (kg/m^2) mean ± SD	30.94 ± 4.10	30.97 ± 4.13	0.98
Location of the tumour			0.55
Right (%)	27 (77.1%)	29 (82.9%)
Left (%)	8 (22.9%)	6 (22.9%)
Size of tumour (cm) mean ± SD	3.67 ± 0.95	3.78 ± 0.89	0.62
Number of lesions			0.30
Solitary HCC. (%)	26 (74.3%)	22 (62.9%)
Multiple HCC (%)	9 (25.7%)	13 (37.1%)

CTP: Child Turcotte Pugh; BMI: body mass index.

p < 0.05 indicates a significant difference between the studied groups.

Table 2. VAS Pain score in the studied groups.

Time interval	Group I (n = 35) median (minimum–maximum)	Group II (n = 35) median (minimum–maximum)	p value
T0	6 (4–7)	5 (4–7)	0.84
T1	4 (2–5)	3 (1–4)	<0.001*
T2	3 (2–4)	2 (1–3)	<0.001*
T3	3 (1–4)	1 (0–3)	<0.001*
T4	2 (1–3)	1 (0–3)	<0.001*
T5	2 (1–3)	1 (0–2)	<0.001*
T6	2 (1–2)	0 (0–2)	<0.001*

* p < 0.001 indicates a significant difference between the studied groups.

Figure 1. Number of required doses of rescue analgesia. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. *p < 0.001 vs. Group I.

Figure 2. Total required dose of morphine in the first 48 h postoperatively. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. *p < 0.001vs. Group I.

Table 3. Side effects in the studied groups.

Variable	Group I (n = 35) (%)	Group II (n = 35) (%)	p value
Hypotension	6 (17.1%)	5 (14.3%)	0.74
Hypoxia	7 (20%)	5 (14.3%)	0.53
Nausea and vomiting	16 (45.7%)	6 (17.1%)	0.01*
Delayed discharge	13 (37.1%)	4 (11.4%)	0.01*

* p < 0.05 indicates a significant difference between the studied groups.