Comparing the Effects of Pregabalin and Clonidine on Postoperative Pain in Tonsillectomy: A Randomized, Double-blind, Prospective Clinical Trial

Background: Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures. This study compared the effect of Pregabalin and Clonidine on postoperative pain in adult patients undergoing elective tonsillectomy. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, prospective clinical trial was conducted among 92 patients aged 20 to 50. The clonidine group (C) was given 150 μg of clonidine tablet 90 minutes before surgery, and the pregabalin group (P) was given 300 mg of pregabalin tablet 90 minutes before surgery. The results were analyzed by SPSS 25, and statistical analysis consisted of chisquare, T-test, and χ² tests, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean pain score and analgesic consumption scores in the pregabalin group were lower than in the clonidine group. According to the t-test, there was a significant difference between the two groups regarding pain score and analgesic consumption (p <0.05). Hemodynamic variation in both groups had no significant differences (p >0.05). Conclusion: The present study showed that pregabalin reduced postoperative pain and analgesic consumption more effectively than clonidine.