Loprinzi, C.L., Sloan, J., Stearns, V., Slack, R., Iyengar, M., Diekmann, B., … Novotny, P. (2009). Newer antidepressants and gabapentin for hot flashes: An individual patient pooled analysis. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 27, 2831–2837.
Efficacy and side-effects of three relatively low gabapentin doses in comparison to placebo.
Randomized to:
Outpatient oncology centers
Double-blind, placebo-controlled.
Hot flash frequencies and severities were recorded daily for a baseline week and for four weeks while taking the study medication; symptom experience diaries were completed weekly for five weeks; 30-item Profile of Mood States–Brief was completed at the end of the baseline week and the end of four weeks of treatment.
By the fourth treatment week, mean hot flash scores decreased from baseline in the placebo group by 4.1 units. They also decreased in the three increasing dose gabapentin groups by 3.2, 4.6, and 7.0 units. No significant difference was reported in the three combined gabapentin arms versus placebo: Wilcoxon rank-sum p values for change in hot flash scores and frequencies after four weeks of treatment were 0.10 and 0.02 comparing the highest dose gabapentin arm to the placebo arm, respectively.
Short follow-up period