Comparison of safety and efficacy of pregabalin versus gabapentin for the treatment of uremic pruritus in patients with chronic kidney disease on maintenance haemodialysis

We used gabapentin 100 mg or pregabalin 25 mg for 42 consecutive patients with CKD on maintenance hemodialysis with a mean age of patients in Group A (pregabalin 25 mg) 55.29 ± 14.58 and B (gabapentin 100 mg) 58.10 ± 11.09. Both gabapentin and pregabalin produced a significant difference in itching intensity with <i>P</i> < 0.001; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the effectiveness of two drugs in reducing itch. While receiving gabapentin, 11 of 21 patients (52.38%) reported fatigue, dizziness, somnolescence, which was statistically significant (<i>P</i> ≤ 0.001) and 4 of these patients discontinued use of the drug due to excessive somnolence, all after the first dose. A statistically significant difference was found in each domain of 5D-Pruritus scale after gabapentin and pregabalin therapy.