ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin on painful radiation-induced brachial plexus injury.Methods A total of forty-five patients with painful radiation-induced brachial plexus injury were assigned to treatment group with pregabalin 150-600 mg/d combined with conventional therapy, and to control group with conventional treatment for 12 weeks.The visual analogue scale (VAS) and neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI) were evaluated.The response rate (proportion of subjects with at least a 30％ to 50％ reduction in visual analogue scale) was evaluated as the primary endpoint.Results The response rate of the pregabalin group(36.4％) was significantly higher than that of the control group (9.1％) (x2 =4.98, P ＜ 0.05).Although hospital anxiety and depression level, clinical global impression of change, and clinical global impression of change (CGIC) did not differ significantly between pregabalin group and control group (P ＞ 0.05), improvements in neuropathic pain symptom inventory (NPSI), patient global impression of change (PGIC) and the sleep interference score(t =-6.62,-5.65,-6.16, P ＜ 0.05)suggested some utility in the management of radiation-induced brachial plexus.Conclusions Pregabalin treatment combined with conventional treatment exerts efficacy on patients with painful radiation-induced brachial plexus and patients are well tolerated.