Effect of Pregabalin in Preventing Secondary Damage in Traumatic Brain Injury: An Experimental Study

Source of support: Departmental sources Background: In this study we aimed to explore the effects of pregabalin on a traumatic brain injury model in rats. Material/Methods: This study included 40 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats randomized into 4 groups, each of which contained equal numbers of animals. The control group had no head trauma and thus was not treated. The trauma group had head trauma but was not treated. The pregabalin group had no head trauma but was treated by pregab-alin. The trauma + pregabalin group had head trauma treated with pregabalin. The biopsy samples taken from the study animals were histopathologically examined for the presence of edema, inflammation, and neuronal damage. Results: All animals in the trauma group had edema, inflammation, and neuronal damage. Four subjects in the control group, 6 in the pregabalin group, and 4 in the trauma + pregabalin group had edema; inflammation was pres-ent in 1 subject in the control group, 3 subjects in the pregabalin group, and 3 subjects in the trauma + prega-balin group; neuronal damage existed in 1 subject in the control group, 1 subject in the pregabalin group, and 6 subjects in the trauma + pregabalin group. The trauma group had significantly higher edema and neuronal damage scores than the other groups. Similarly, inflammation was significantly more prevalent in the trauma group than the control and trauma + pregabalin groups