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. 2023 Sep 16;11(18):2563.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare11182563.

A Nutritional Supplement as Adjuvant of Gabapentinoids for Adults with Neuropathic Pain following Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke: Preliminary Results

William Raffaeli  1 , Giorgio Felzani  2 , Michael Tenti  1 , Luca Greco  2 , Maria Pia D'Eramo  2 , Stefania Proietti  3 , Giovanni Morone  2   4
Affiliations

A Nutritional Supplement as Adjuvant of Gabapentinoids for Adults with Neuropathic Pain following Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke: Preliminary Results

William Raffaeli et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Gabapentinoids are first choice drugs for central neuropathic pain (CNP) despite limited evidence of efficacy and side effects affecting therapy outcomes. Nutraceuticals could improve their efficacy and tolerability. Our aim is to investigate the effect of NACVAN®, in addition to gabapentinoids, on pain symptomatology in CNP patients. The effect of 6 weeks of treatment of NACVAN® was preliminary observed among 29 adult inpatients with spinal cord injury (SCI) or stroke-related CNP recruited to the experimental group. Pain intensity, neuropathic pain, and quality-of-life were measured at baseline (T0) and after 3 (T1) and 6 weeks (T2). Change in each outcome over time was assessed through a repeated measures analysis of variance or Wilcoxon matched-pairs test. Preliminary results show a significant reduction in pain intensity (T0 → T1, p = 0.021; T0 → T2, p = 0.011; T1 → T2, p = 0.46), neuropathic symptoms (T0 → T1, p = 0.024; T0 → T2, p = 0.003), and evoked pain (T0 → T2, p = 0.048). There were no significant reductions in other neuropathic pain dimensions and in quality-of-life components. No side-effects were detected. NACVAN® could have a beneficial adjuvant effect when used as an add-on to gabapentinoids in patients suffering from CNP due to SCI or stroke, with no adverse effect. Future analysis on a larger sample, compared with a placebo condition, could confirm these preliminary results.

Keywords: adjuvant; gabapentinoids; neuropathic pain; pregabalin; spinal cord injury; stroke; supplements.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ca.Di.Group S.r.l. had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Reduction in pain intensity scores from T0 to T2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The histogram shows the pain intensity scores measured through the NRS for each patient at each time-point. The two stroke patients are identified with IDs 2 and 4.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Reduction in NPSI total scores from T0 to T2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The histogram shows the NPSI total scores for each patient at each time-point. The two stroke patients are identified with IDs 2 and 4.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Reduction in NPSI subscale “evoked pain” scores from T0 to T2.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The histogram shows the NPSI evoked pain subscale scores for each patient at each time-point. The two stroke patients are identified with IDs 2 and 4.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Patients’ global impression of change after 6 weeks of NACVAN intake. The figure shows, for each possible response to the PGIC, the percentage of patients who gave that particular response.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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