OBJECTIVES:

To compare Safety and Efficacy of Gabapentin monotherapy and Gabapentin-Nortriptyline dual therapy in Neuropathic pain and to assess Quality of Life of patients taking Gabapentin alone and Gabapentin-Nortriptyline together for Neuropathic Pain.

METHODS:

A prospective observational study was directed on 132 patients during a study period of 6 months. Detailed literature review was conducted by using tertiary, secondary and primary resources. All the required study materials like informed consent document, patient information sheet, and data entry form were designed. The study was conducted only after getting endorsement from the Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC). 132 patients, who met the inclusion criteria, were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomly arranged into 2 groups, each group receiving either Gabapentin or Gabapentin-Nortriptyline. Data was gathered on the designed data entry form. Comparison was done among both the groups, to assess the Efficacy, Safety, and Quality of Life, using Visual Analog Scale (VAS), evaluation of side effects and SF-36 Questionnaire respectively.

RESULTS:

Severity of pain was significantly reduced in patients with Gabapentin-Nortriptyline dual therapy, compared to that of Gabapentin monotherapy. During the 6-month study period, 15% of patients treated with Gabapentin-Nortriptyline developed Side effects, compared to 15.03% of Gabapentin. QOL of the patients with Gabapentin-Nortriptyline dual therapy showed greater improvement compared to that of Gabapentin monotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS:

Based on study results, it was concluded that Gabapentin-Nortriptyline dual therapy has greater efficacy compared to that of patients treated with Gabapentin monotherapy. Patients treated with Gabapentin-Nortriptyline had significant improvement in QOL compared to those treated with Gabapentin alone. Consequently, this study supports the use of Gabapentin-Nortriptyline dual therapy for neuropathic pain over Gabapentin.