Background: Fibromyalgia is a difficult-to-treat chronic musculoskeletal pain and tenderness syndrome. It is considered due to augmented pain processing in central nervous system. Interest in antiepileptic drugs, included pregabalin, for treatment of fibromyalgia is currently growing. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of pregabalin for fibromyalgia. Methods: We conducted the study according to the meta-analysis PRISMA guideline. Relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified from a search of PubMed and Cochrane databases. Quality of selected studies was assessed using Jadad score for randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCT). Primary outcome was pain score reduction (30% and 50% reduction) and secondary outcome was patient global impression of change. Statistical analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3. Results: Six international, multicenter, high-quality RCTs with 8-15 weeks duration of treatment met inclusion criteria. Four studies used different fixed dose (300 mg/d, 450 mg/d, 600mg/d) and 2 studies used titrated dose in evaluating the efficacy of pregabalin. There was statistically significant benefit of pregabalin over placebo in mean pain score reduction [odds ratio (OR) 1.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.56-2.10 p < 0.00001 in fixed dose pregabalin 30% pain reduction; OR 2.06 95% CI 1.66-2.56 p < 0.00001 in fixed dose pregabalin 50% pain reduction; OR 1.53 95% CI 1.10-2.13 p 0.01 in titrated dose pregabalin 30% pain reduction; OR 1.80 95% CI 1.12-2.88 p 0.01 in titrated dose pregabalin 50% pain reduction]. Pregabalin also demonstrated significantly better patient global impression of change than placebo. No heterogeneity was seen in most groups. No publication bias was observed. Conclusion Our study showed pregabalin monotherapy was effective for pain treatment associated with fibromyalgia. Further studies with longer treatment duration are needed to confirm the long-term effectiveness of pregabalin for fibromyalgia treatment.
Fibromyalgia ; Pregabalin ; Meta-Analysis