Gabapentin In The Treatment Of Pain In Hemodialysis Patients

Aim: Despite its high prevalence, pain induced by uremic neuropathy is usually underrecognized during diagnostic process and undertreated. In most of the patients, traditional drugs are ineffective. In this study, we investigated the effect of gabapentin on neuropathic pain along with quality of life (QOL) and depression in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: Twenty two patients with chronic renal failure who were on HD were included in our study (10 males and 12 females, mean age 62±3.53). We administered 300 mg/day gabapentin for 8 weeks to patients in whom neuropathic pain was detected. We administered SF-36 Evaluation Test (Physical Component Score and Mental Component Score) for QOL, Beck s Depression Inventory (BDI) for depression and Short Form of McGill s Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ: VAS; Visual Analogue Score, PPI; Present Pain Intensity, total SF-MPQ) before and after the treatment. Results: With gabapentin treatment, we found a statistically significant decrease in pain scale scores. Total SF-MPQ decreased from 21.32±8.74 to 7.5±5.72, VAS scale decreased from 6.4±2.15 to 2.45±1.81, PPI decreased from 3.18±1.1 to 1.3±0.88. We also determined significant improvements in SF-36 and BDI scales (p