Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29850137›Full record

ArticleJournal of thoracic disease2018

Pregabalin as an analgesic option for patients undergoing thoracotomy: cost analysis of pregabalin versus epidural analgesia for post-thoracotomy pain relief.

Noriyuki Matsutani, Hitomi Yamane, Toshiaki Suzuki, Aya Murakami, Yuri Haga, Masafumi Kawamura

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of thoracic disease, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Noriyuki MatsutaniDepartment of Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Hitomi YamanePfizer Japan Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
Toshiaki SuzukiPfizer Japan Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
Aya MurakamiClinical Study Support, Inc., Nagoya, Japan.
Yuri HagaClinical Study Support, Inc., Nagoya, Japan.
Masafumi KawamuraDepartment of Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Pfizer (Japan) · JPTeikyo University · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOur previous randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effects of pregabalin on acute post-thoracotomy pain compared with epidural analgesia showed that pregabalin is a safe and effective treatment and that it may be an alternative to epidural analgesia for acute post-thoracotomy pain. In this analysis, to additionally analyze the economic aspects of pregabalin in patients undergoing thoracotomy, we compared the medical costs between pregabalin and epidural analgesia as an analgesic technique for post-thoracotomy pain.

methodsCosts for patients undergoing thoracotomy and receiving either pregabalin or epidural analgesia for post-thoracotomy pain relief in the previous RCT were retrospectively collected from health insurance claims data. The following five cost categories were compared between the groups: (I) surgery costs; (II) costs for surgical materials and medications; (III) costs for anesthetic management; (IV) total hospitalization costs; and (V) costs for outpatient pain-relief medications (from hospital discharge to 6 months after thoracotomy).

resultsWe analyzed data from 90 patients (45 patients for each group). Median costs for surgical materials and medications and those for anesthetic management were significantly lower in the pregabalin group than in the epidural analgesia group [(Japanese yen) ¥69,720

conclusionsAlthough the use of pregabalin did not result in lower total hospitalization costs, it may reduce fee-for-service surgery- and anesthesia-related costs. The economic benefits of pregabalin may reinforce its usefulness as an alternative to epidural analgesia, especially for patients who are unsuitable for epidural analgesia.

Indexed as

cost analysisepidural analgesiapain controlpost-thoracotomy painPregabalin

Identifiers

PMID29850137
PMCPMC5949478
OpenAlexW2798255192

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.