Yasir Shafi, Ali Asad Khan, Sami Ullah Mumtaz, Rabia Akram, Sadia Qayyum, Sajid Abaidullah.
Efficacy of Pregabalin Versus Duloxetine in patients with Diabetic Painful Neuropathy.
J Pak Society Int Med Jan ;2(1):33-6.

Background: Diabetic neuropathy occurs in 30% of patients and presents with paraesthesia in the feet, cutaneous hyperaesthesia and abnormal gait. There is a difference in opinion regarding the first line agents for painful diabetic neuropathy. Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy of pregabalin and duloxetine in terms of good pain relief in patients with diabetic neuropathy. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in 116 patients after an informed consent. VAS was used to assess the baseline pain level and the patients were allocated to either group A (Pregabalin group; 150mg twice a day) or group B (Duloxetine group; 60mg once a day) for up to 6 weeks using single blind technique and lottery method. Patients were assessed at weeks 3 and 6 to assess the relief in pain. Results: Mean age in both the groups was 48.36+7.10 and 50.56+6.17 respectively. Mean pain (VAS) at baseline in both the groups were 6.44+0.92 and 7.22+0.46 respectively whereas mean pain (VAS) at 06 weeks were 4.0+0.60 and 5.04+0.57 respectively. Frequency and percentage of good pain relief was 33(66%) and 37(74%) respectively (p = 0.383). Among the patients who reported good pain relief, 70 were male while 4 were female patients and out of those 26 patients that did not meet the criteria for good pain relief, 11 were male and 15 patients were female. Conclusion: The study concluded that both duloxetine and pregabalin were equally effective in diabetic painful neuropathy with variable results in male and female patients.

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