Role of Gabapentin in Managing Mucositis Pain in Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy to the Head and Neck.
Carol Ann Milazzo-Kiedaisch, Joanne Itano, Pinaki R Dutta
PMID 27857262WHAT IT FOUND
Retrospective reports describe gabapentin for oral mucositis pain during head and neck radiation.
Some patients did not require additional narcotics, and PEG tube use was reported to begin later and end earlier. Patients also had surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. This is not proof.
Key findings
01The review describes gabapentin as a co analgesic option for the neuropathic pain component of head and neck cancer oral mucositis.
02Retrospective reports describe gabapentin use with some patients not requiring additional narcotics and with reported PEG tube timing differences.
03Nursing considerations include patient education about gabapentin titration, side effects, renal impairment, and older adult polypharmacy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This is a narrative review, not a randomized trial, so it cannot show that gabapentin caused the reported differences. The review obtained eleven references and included three retrospective studies. Patients also received surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, cetuximab, or prophylactic PEG tubes, so gabapentin's contribution cannot be separated. Some patients still required additional narcotics despite gabapentin. Gabapentin requires slow titration and can cause dizziness, somnolence, ataxia, edema, weight gain, dyspepsia, and leukopenia.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that gabapentin was shown to reduce mucositis pain or replace opioids. The paper is a review of retrospective reports, and patients also received surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, cetuximab, or prophylactic PEG tubes, so the effect of gabapentin alone cannot be separated.