Sciatica Drug Demonstrates Little Efficacy
Pregabalin (Lyrica) is ineffective at treating acute and chronic sciatica, according to a new study from Australia. Researchers randomized some 200 patients with sciatica to pregabalin at a dose of 150 mg per day that was adjusted to a maximum dose of 600 mg per day or matching placebo for up to eight weeks. The primary outcome was leg pain intensity at week eight on a 10-point scale. At week eight, the mean unadjusted leg pain intensity score was 3.7 in the pregabalin group and 3.1 in the placebo group (adjusted mean difference, 0.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.2 to 1.2; P = 0.19). At week 52, the scores were 3.4 and 3.0, respectively. Side effects were twice as common in the pregabalin group. The authors concluded that treatment with pregabalin did not reduce the intensity of leg pain associated with sciatica significantly nor did it improve other outcomes significantly, as compared with placebo, over the course of eight weeks. (N Engl J Med 2017;376:1111-1120)
The authors of a recent study concluded that treatment with pregabalin did not reduce the intensity of leg pain associated with sciatica significantly nor did it improve other outcomes significantly.
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