Antioxidant-pregabalin cuts pain in chronic calcific pancreatitis

(HealthDay)—For patients with chronic calcific pancreatitis (CCP), antioxidant-pregabalin combination is associated with significant pain reduction, according to a study published online March 6 in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Rupjyoti Talukdar, M.D., Ph.D., from the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad, India, and colleagues examined the effect of antioxidant-pregabalin combination on pain recurrence in CCP. Patients with CCP with pain recurrence following pancreatic ductal clearance of stones were randomized to receive antioxidant-pregabalin combination (42 patients) or matching placebo (45 patients) for two months, followed by four months of open-label antioxidants in both groups. On a weekly basis and at the end of the study, a coordinator recorded compliance, daily pain, and adverse events.

The researchers found that at two months there was significant improvement in the treatment group, with reductions in visual analog scale (P = 0.01), Izbicki score (P = 0.001), complete pain resolution (P = 0.04), and number of painful days (P = 0.01). The number of patients needed to treat was 4.8. In the original treatment group, pain reduction persisted at six months. In the treatment arm, 23.8 and 38.1 percent of patients experienced mild to moderate self-limiting nausea/vomiting and drowsiness, respectively; no change was required in the study protocol.

"Antioxidant-pregabalin combination results in significant relief in pain recurrence after ductal clearance in narcotic naive patients with chronic calcific pancreatitis," the authors write.