Näytönastekatsaukset

Gabapentin in treatment of fibromyalgia pain

Näytönastekatsaukset
3.3.2026
Aleksi Varinen and Aleksi Raudasoja

Level of evidence: C

Gabapentin probably decreases fibromyalgia-related pain.

One placebo-controlled trial «Arnold LM, Goldenberg DL, Stanford SB, ym. Gabapentin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;56(4):1336-44 »1 tested the effect of gabapentin (versus placebo) on fibromyalgia. The average pain decreased by 0.95 points compared to control (about 25% difference).

Most common adverse effects were dizziness (RD 16%), sedation (20%), lightheadedness (10%), weight gain (6%).

The evidence was limited by high risk of bias and imprecision.

Table 1. Description of the included studies
Reference Study type Population Intervention and comparison Outcomes Risk of bias
RCT=randomized controlled trial; SR=systematic review; MA=meta-analysis; NMA=network meta-analysis; FIQ=Fibromyalgia impact questionnaire
«Arnold LM, Goldenberg DL, Stanford SB, ym. Gabapentin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;56(4):1336-44 »1RCTAdults with fibromyalgiaGabapentin 1200-2400mg per day vs placeboAverage pain, quality of life (FIQ)High
Table 2. Additional comments for included studies
Reference Comments
«Arnold LM, Goldenberg DL, Stanford SB, ym. Gabapentin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;56(4):1336-44 »1 Inclusion criteria: female and male, 18 years and over, FM patients meeting ACR criteria for FM (1990), score ≥ 4 on BPI scale at screening and andomization.
High risk of bias (about 20 % dropout rates).
Table 3. Outcome 1 – Average pain [scale 0-10]
Reference Number of studies and number of patients Follow-up time Mean at follow up (sd) I Mean at follow up (sd) C Mean difference (95% CI)
Level of evidence: low
The quality of evidence is downgraded due to study limitations and imprecision.
I=intervention; C=comparison; CI=confidence interval
«Arnold LM, Goldenberg DL, Stanford SB, ym. Gabapentin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;56(4):1336-44 »1 75/7512 weeks3.8 (2.2)5.0 (2.6)-0.95 (-1.68 to -0.23)
Table 4. Outcome 2 – Fibromyalgia related quality of life (i.e. total fibromyalgia symptoms, scale 0-80)
Reference Number of studies and number of patients (I/C) Follow-up time Mean at follow up (sd) I Mean at follow up (sd) C Mean difference (95% CI)
Level of evidence: low
The quality of evidence is downgraded due to study limitations and imprecision.
I=intervention; C=comparison; CI=confidence interval
«Arnold LM, Goldenberg DL, Stanford SB, ym. Gabapentin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;56(4):1336-44 »1 75/7512 weeks 26.2 (15.1)37.3 (18.1)-8.4 (-13.0 to -3.3)

References

  1. Arnold LM, Goldenberg DL, Stanford SB, ym. Gabapentin in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Arthritis Rheum 2007;56(4):1336-44 «PMID: 17393438»PubMed