09 September 2008
Nat Clin Pract Rheumatol. 2008 Sep 2. [Epub ahead of print]
Spaeth M.
M Spaeth is an Internist and Rheumatologist in private practice in
Graefelfing, Germany.
PMID: 18762786
The concept of fibromyalgia being one of several 'central sensitivity
syndromes' has led to the use of centrally acting drugs in the
treatment of this disorder. One such drug, pregabalin, has recently
been approved by the US FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia.
In a study by Mease and colleagues, significant relief from
symptomatic pain was achieved in patients treated with pregabalin 300
mg/day, 450 mg/day and 600 mg/day compared with placebo. In addition,
Patient Global Impression of Change and sleep scale scores were
significantly improved in all treatment groups at the 13-week end point.
Dizziness and somnolence were the two most common dose-related
adverse events, but led to few withdrawals from the study. The
results support the use of pregabalin as a mechanism-based treatment
for pain and sleep disturbances in patients with fibromyalgia.
Further studies with a longer observation period and randomized
trials comparing different medications are needed.