Objective:

To assess the efficacy and safety of preemptive analgesia with gabapentinoids for patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Material and methods:

A PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library and ScienceDirect databases. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) comparing gabapentinoids (gabapentin and pregabalin) with placebo in patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopic surgery were retrieved. The primary endpoint was the visual analogue scale (VAS) score at 24 hours and cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours. The secondary outcomes were complications of nausea/vomiting, sedation and dizziness. After tests for publication bias and heterogeneity among studies were performed, data were aggregated for random-effects models when necessary.

Results:

Five clinical studies (gabapentin group n = 4 and pregabalin group n = 1) were ultimately included in the meta-analysis. Gabapentinoids were associated with reduced pain scores at 24 hours. Similarly, gabapentinoids were associated with a reduction in cumulative morphine consumption at 24 hours. Furthermore, gabapentinoids can significantly reduce the occurrence of nausea/vomiting. There were no significant differences in the occurrence of sedation and dizziness.

Conclusions:

Preoperative use of gabapentinoids was able to reduce postoperative pain, total morphine consumption, and morphine-related complications following arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Further studies should determine the optimal dose and whether pregabalin is superior to gabapentin in controlling acute pain after shoulder surgery.