Video: Let’s ‘Gab’-apentin: Aligning Evidence With Current Use

McLean Forum

Carol Aboud, PharmD, RPh, Andrew Karas, PharmD, BCPP, David Snyder, PharmD, BCPP, McLean Hospital

Gabapentin, a synthetic analog of gamma-aminobutyric acid, was originally FDA-approved for use as an anticonvulsant. Due to a varied number of off-label uses and a mild side-effect profile at clinically appropriate doses, gabapentin’s use in the United States has expanded dramatically over the last decade. This has led to an increase in gabapentin misuse at high doses and especially in combination with other prescription and illicit substances.

In This Presentation

Lecture highlights include:

• Clinical pharmacology of gabapentin and its mechanism of misuse
• Evidence for gabapentin’s many off-label uses
• Trends of gabapentin prescribing in the McLean community will be reviewed using national prescribing trends for comparison