ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT03625011Updated Jul 24, 2019

Gabapentin Premedication to Reduce Postoperative Pain for Pediatric Tonsillectomy

A Phase 4 interventional study of Gabapentin in Tonsillitis and Tonsillectomy, sponsored by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 3 Years to 18 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-07-24.

Sponsored by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta · Phase 4, Interventional, and Health services research

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2019, 6 years 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jul 2018; still recruiting 8 years 3 months later.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
3 Years to 18 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this pilot study: 1) to examine the use of gabapentin in reducing pain in the first 48 hours postoperatively including the total amount of narcotics mg/kg given 2) to record the time to first analgesic postoperatively and 3) to compare Wong Baker and the 0-10 numeric pain distress scale scores at 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. We hypothesize one 15mg/kg (up to 600mg) dose of gabapentin will decrease mean narcotic amounts in mg/kg compared to participants who do not receive preoperative gabapentin and will demonstrate a decreased mean time to first analgesic as well as to lower mean pain scores for each age group at 12, 24 and 48 hours.

Read the detailed description

This double blinded randomized control trial will enroll 50 children age 3-18 years, undergoing T/As from a regional healthcare organization. Patients will be receiving either one gabapentin dose (15mg/kg up to 600mg) or placebo preoperatively. Both control and test group will receive the standard narcotic regimen intraoperatively. Additionally, young children will receive instruction for Tylenol and Motrin postoperatively while teenagers will receive a narcotic prescription. Outcome measurements include: mean Tylenol mg/kg, Motrin mg/kg and narcotic mg/kg use. Additional measurements: Mean time to first analgesic. Phone interviews with the research nurse for three days postoperatively will elicit pain scores at 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively.

02

Conditions studied

  • Tonsillitis
  • Tonsillectomy

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Keywords

  • Pain Relief
  • Non-Narcotic Pain relief
03

In context

Tonsillitis

103 studies on the registry are indexed under Tonsillitis; 12 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 100 across 87 interventional studies indexed under Tonsillitis.

Browse Tonsillitis studies →

Lead sponsor

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta is the lead sponsor of 97 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
3 Years to 18 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • participants age 3-18 years
  • 1 or 2
  • elective Tonsillectomy/Adenoidectomy
  • outpatient setting.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • >40kg/m2
  • history of renal insufficiency, chronic pain
  • allergy to gabapentin
  • history of developmental delay
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

ASA physical status

The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo Group

    Participants will be randomized to either Control Group or Gabapentin Group

    Drug: Gabapentin

  • Active comparator
    Gabapentin Group

    Participants will be randomized to either Control Group or Gabapentin Group

    Drug: Gabapentin

Interventions

  • This double blinded randomized control trial will enroll 50 children age 3-18 years, undergoing T/As. Patients will be receiving either one gabapentin dose (15mg/kg up to 600mg) or placebo preoperatively. Both control and test group will receive the standard narcotic regimen intraoperatively.

    Also known as: Neurontin

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Narcotic Consumption

    To examine the use of gabapentin in reducing pain in the first 48 hours postoperatively including the total amount of narcotics mg/kg(weight and height will be combined to report BMI in kg/m\^2).

    Time frame: First 48 hours postoperatively

Secondary outcomes

  1. First Analgesic Timing

    To record the time to first analgesic postoperatively

    Time frame: First 48 Hours postoperatively

  2. Pain Scale Scores

    To compare the Wong- Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale and the 1-10 numeric pain distress scale pain scores at 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. The 0-10 Numeric Pain Distress Pain Scale utilizes number gradations to describe pain for school age children and adolescents. A zero score means the absence of pain while a five describes distressing pain and a ten infers unbearable pain. As for the Wong-Baker FACES Scale, a series of faces can be shown to children over the age of three. The six faces depict facial expressions with zero-no hurt at all, one-hurts just a little bit, two-hurts a little more, three-hurts even more, four-hurts a whole lot, and five- hurts as much as you can imagine. No subscales will be used or combined.

    Time frame: 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively.

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Amani S, Abedinzadeh MR. Effects of Oral Gabapentin, Local Bupivacaine and Intravenous Pethidine on Post Tonsillectomy Pain. Iran J Otorhinolaryngol. 2015 Sep;27(82):343-8. PubMed 26568937 ↗
  • Amin SM. Evaluation of gabapentin and dexamethasone alone or in combination for pain control after adenotonsillectomy in children. Saudi J Anaesth. 2014 Jul;8(3):317-22. doi: 10.4103/1658-354X.136417. PubMed 25191179 ↗
  • Amin SM, Amr YM. Comparison between preemptive gabapentin and paracetamol for pain control after adenotonsillectomy in children. Anesth Essays Res. 2011 Jul-Dec;5(2):167-70. doi: 10.4103/0259-1162.94758. PubMed 25885382 ↗
  • Hwang SH, Park IJ, Cho YJ, Jeong YM, Kang JM. The efficacy of gabapentin/pregabalin in improving pain after tonsillectomy: A meta-analysis. Laryngoscope. 2016 Feb;126(2):357-66. doi: 10.1002/lary.25636. Epub 2015 Sep 25. PubMed 26404562 ↗
  • Knipper E, Banta-Green CJ, Jimenez N. Opioid use disorder and misuse: A review of the epidemiology and medical implications for pediatric anesthesiologists. Paediatr Anaesth. 2017 Nov;27(11):1070-1076. doi: 10.1111/pan.13225. PubMed 29030938 ↗
  • Mohamed, M.H., Al-Sercy, H. (2014). Preoperative gabapentin decreases the incidence of postoperative vomiting and analgesic requirements after pediatric adenotonsillectomy. The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology. 225-228.
  • Thiels CA, Anderson SS, Ubl DS, Hanson KT, Bergquist WJ, Gray RJ, Gazelka HM, Cima RR, Habermann EB. Wide Variation and Overprescription of Opioids After Elective Surgery. Ann Surg. 2017 Oct;266(4):564-573. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002365. PubMed 28697049 ↗

Study documents

PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Jul 2018 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2019, 17 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jul 20, 2018
First posted
Aug 10, 2018
StartActual
Jul 31, 2018
Primary completionEst.
Dec 31, 2019
CompletionEst.
Dec 31, 2019
Last update
Jul 24, 2019
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 24, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03625011
Lead sponsor
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Responsible party
Margaret Gettis (Nurse Scientist, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 10, 2018
Start date
Jul 31, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2019 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2019 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 24, 2019

Study contacts

Beena Desai
Contact
beena.desai@choa.org
404-785-2269
Margaret A Gettis, DNP,CPNP-PC
Contact
margaret.gettis@choa.org
404-785-8622
Christina Calamaro, PhD, CPNP-PC
study chair · Institutional Review Board

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Gabapentin

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