Oral Clonidine & Gabapentin: Improving Recovery and Pain Management After Outpatient With Major Orthopedic Surgery

Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Analgesic Efficacy of Oral Clonidine and Gabapentin as Part of a Multi-modal Analgesic Regimen for Preventing Pain After Arthroscopic Shoulder or Knee Surgery

The purpose of this research is to investigate the non-opioid (non-narcotic) pain-relieving medications clonidine and gabapentin to see if they decrease the amount of opioid pain medications needed after surgery, thereby reducing opioid-related side effects, and time required to return to normal activities of daily living after surgery.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients scheduled to undergo arthroscopic joint surgery
• Willingness and ability to sign an informed consent document
• No allergies to clonidine, gabapentin, anesthetic or analgesic medications
• 18 - 80 years of age
• American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Class I - III adults of either sex
• Women of childbearing potential must be currently practicing an acceptable form of birth control, and have a negative urine pregnancy test

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with known allergy, hypersensitivity or contraindications to clonidine, gabapentin, anesthetic or analgesic medications
• Patients with clinically-significant medical conditions, such as brain, heart, kidney, endocrine, or liver diseases, peptic ulcer disease or bleeding disorders
• Patients with chronic hypertension or pain syndromes receiving clonidine or gabapentin, respectively.
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Subjects with a history of alcohol or drug abuse within the past 3 months
• Patients taking any analgesic medications within 48 hours prior to the surgery
• Any other conditions or use of any medication which may interfere with the conduct of the study
• Non-English speakers
• Patients greater than 80 years of age