Objective

To describe the prescribing practices for gabapentin as an analgesic within the veterinary community.

Study design

Anonymous online voluntary survey.

Population

A total of 718 veterinarians within the United States and Canada, including general practitioners and diplomates of the American Colleges of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, Emergency and Critical Care, Surgery and Internal Medicine.

Methods

An anonymous online survey was used to gather information about individual prescribing practices for gabapentin including frequency of use, reasons for prescribing and procedures for authorizing refill requests. Questions specific to gabapentin covered mechanisms of action, perceptions of efficacy and the potential for abuse in people. Dunn’s test for multiple comparisons and pairwise Mann–Whitney U test were used to evaluate relationships between veterinary specialty and survey responses.

Results

A total of 718 veterinarians responded to the survey, 528 (73.5%) answered all questions of the survey to completion. Frequency of prescribing was high with 365/529 (69.0%) of respondents prescribing gabapentin as an analgesic on a daily or weekly basis. Surgeons and general practitioners used gabapentin significantly more frequently than other groups, with surgeons more likely to prescribe gabapentin for postoperative pain. The most common reason [254/517 (49.1%)] survey respondents prescribed gabapentin as an analgesic was because administration of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication was contraindicated for that animal. The majority of survey respondents [362/527 (68.7%)] considered the abuse potential of gabapentin to be low in people.

Conclusions and clinical relevance

Veterinary prescribing practices for gabapentin closely mirrored that of human physicians, with gabapentin being prescribed frequently and for uses largely unrelated to its labeled indication. The perception of the potential for abuse of gabapentin is low within the veterinary community.

中文翻译：

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兽医专业人员对加巴喷丁作为镇痛剂的处方实践的评估

客观的

描述在兽医界内将加巴喷丁作为镇痛剂的处方实践。

学习规划

匿名在线自愿调查。

人口

美国和加拿大共有718名兽医，包括美国兽医麻醉和镇痛、急诊和重症监护、外科和内科的全科医生和外交官。

方法

一项匿名在线调查用于收集有关加巴喷丁个人处方实践的信息，包括使用频率、处方原因和授权补充请求的程序。特定于加巴喷丁的问题包括作用机制、对功效的看法以及在人体内滥用的可能性。多重比较的 Dunn 检验和成对的 Mann-Whitney U检验用于评估兽医专业和调查响应之间的关系。

结果

共有 718 名兽医回答了调查，其中 528 名（73.5%）回答了调查的所有问题。开具处方的频率很高，365/529 (69.0%) 的受访者每天或每周开具加巴喷丁作为镇痛剂的处方。外科医生和全科医生使用加巴喷丁的频率明显高于其他组，外科医生更有可能为术后疼痛开出加巴喷丁。最常见的原因 [254/517 (49.1%)] 调查受访者规定加巴喷丁作为镇痛剂是因为该动物禁用非甾体抗炎药。大多数调查受访者 [362/527 (68.7%)] 认为加巴喷丁在人群中的滥用可能性较低。

结论和临床相关性

加巴喷丁的兽医处方实践与人类医生的处方实践非常相似，加巴喷丁的处方经常被开出，并且其用途在很大程度上与其标示的适应症无关。兽医界对滥用加巴喷丁的可能性的看法很低。