Abstract: AIM: To investigate the analgesic efficacy and safety of pregabalin in patients after abdominal hysterectomy and compare with gabapentin.METHODS: A randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 90 women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy who were anaesthetized in a standardized fashion. Patients received 300 mg pregabalin(Group P), 900 mg gabapentin(Group G) or placebo (Group C), 2 h prior to surgery, n=30 in each group. 100 mg flubiprofen axetil was intravenous infused at 4 h postoperation for conventional analgesia, rescue analgesia was administered at visual analog scales (VAS) scores >3 with intravenous tramadol. VAS scores at resting or coughing and sedation scores were recorded at arrived PACU, 1,2,4,6,8,12,18 and 24 h postoperation. The frequency and dosage of tramadol, incidence of adverse effects within 24 h postoperation were noted. The patients global satisfacation of postoperative analgesia was evaluated at 24 h postoperation.RESULTS: Recovery time from anesthesia was significantly longer in group P and G than that in group C(P<0.05). Resting VAS scores in 1,2 h and coughing VAS scores in 1,2 4 h postoperation were lower in group P than those in group C and G(P<0.05). Sedation scores in 1,2,6 h postoperation was significantly higher in group G than that in group C, and in 1,2 h postoperation were significantly higher in gourp P than those in gorup C(P<0.05). Time of patient's first request for analgesic was significantly longer in group P and G than that in group C(P<0.05). The number of tramadol rescue analgesia and dosage of tramadol were significantly less in group P and G than those in group C(P<0.05),and was significantly less in gorup P than that in group G(P<0.05). There was no significantly difference in incidence of dizziness in three groups, but the incidence of somnolence was significantly higher in group G than those in group C and P(P<0.05).The rate of patients, global satisfacation of postoperative analgesia which in “excellent” was significantly better in group P and G than that in group C (P<0.05), and also better in gorup P than that in group G(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Pregabalin 300 mg given orally 2 h before abdominal hysterectomy can result in significantly reduced postoperative analgesic requirement and better patients global satisfacation compare with gabapentin 900 mg and placebo.

Key words: Pregabalin, Gabapentin, Tramadol, Abdominal hysterectomy, Postoperative analgesia