A small randomized eye-surgery study found that fewer pregabalin-treated patients needed intraoperative midazolam. Greater baseline sedation was also part of the observed treatment effect.
Fifty-eight adults undergoing vitrectomy with peribulbar block received pregabalin or placebo before surgery. Midazolam was needed intraoperatively in five pregabalin-group patients versus nineteen placebo-group patients.
The pregabalin group also had lower reported anxiety and higher sedation scores, with differences in selected pain and satisfaction measures.
Using less midazolam does not mean that the intervention eliminated sedative effects; the study recorded more sedation with pregabalin. The trial tested one pregabalin dose and followed outcomes only briefly after surgery.
It did not establish long-term recovery, rare-event safety, or a general replacement strategy for benzodiazepines. A case account should retain the regional block, baseline treatment, rescue criteria, total administered medicines, and recovery measures. Interpret the midazolam count as one endpoint within a combined perioperative regimen.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC8520673.