Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37029026›Full record

ArticleJournal of pediatric surgery2023

Gabapentin is Associated With Decreased Postoperative Opioid Use and Length of Stay After Appendectomy in Children With Perforated Appendicitis: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

Danny Lascano, Abigail K Zamora, Elaa Mahdi, Shadassa Ourshalimian, Christopher J Russell, Eugene Kim, Lorraine I Kelley-Quon

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of pediatric surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Gabapentinoid Dispensing to Children and Adolescents in the U.S.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Danny LascanoDivision of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Abigail K ZamoraDivision of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Elaa MahdiDivision of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Shadassa OurshalimianDivision of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Christopher J RussellDivision of Hospital Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Eugene KimDivision of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Lorraine I Kelley-QuonDivision of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: lkquon@chla.usc.edu.
Children's Hospital of Los Angeles · USUniversity of Southern California · US

Funding

Mentored Career DevelopmentKL2TR001854 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Elizabeth Rhea Erwin Burner, Amy Elizabeth West · 2016 to 2026
$9.0M
NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR001854
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundGabapentin is increasingly used as an off-label, opioid-sparing pain medication in children. We investigated perioperative gabapentin administration and postoperative opioid use in children who underwent appendectomy for perforated appendicitis.

methodsA retrospective cohort study of healthy children ages 2-18 years undergoing appendectomy for perforated appendicitis from 2014 to 2019 was performed using the Pediatric Health Information System®. Propensity score matched (PSM) analysis was conducted with 1:1 matching based on patient and hospital characteristics. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to evaluate an association between gabapentin, postoperative opioid use, and postoperative length of stay.

resultsOf 29,467 children with perforated appendicitis who underwent appendectomy, 236 (0.8%) received gabapentin. In 2014, <10 children received gabapentin, but by 2019, 110 children received gabapentin. On univariate analysis of the PSM cohort, children receiving gabapentin had decreased total postoperative opiate use (2.3 SD ± 2.3 versus 3.0 SD ± 2.5 days, p < 0.001). On adjusted analysis, children receiving gabapentin had 0.65 fewer days of postoperative total opioid use (95% CI: -1.09, -0.21) and spent 0.69 fewer days in the hospital after surgery (95% CI: -1.30, -0.08).

conclusionWhile overall use is infrequent, gabapentin is increasingly administered to children with perforated appendicitis who undergo an appendectomy and is associated with decreased postoperative opioid use and reduced postoperative length of stay. Multimodal pain management strategies incorporating gabapentin may reduce postoperative opioid consumption, but further studies of drug safety are needed for this off-label use in children undergoing surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidAppendicitisAppendectomyChildGabapentinHumansLength of StayPropensity ScoreRetrospective StudiesAnalgesics, OpioidGabapentinAppendicitisGabapentinMultimodal pain managementOpioidPostoperative pain

Identifiers

PMID37029026
PMCPMC10771856
OpenAlexW4324333269

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.