Pain Control With Total Knee Replacement

Being able to understand and better control pain in patients undergoing total knee
arthroplasty will help in many different areas of medicine. Gabapentin is one pain control
modality that has been used by many different orthopaedic surgeons with excellent
retrospective results. Gabapentin, however, has never been studied, to the investigators
knowledge, in a prospective randomized fashion in the United States for total knee
arthroplasty. This study will be the first of its kind to truly compare the effects of
gabapentin, a drug that has been proven safe in many other areas of medicine, with placebo
for total knee arthroplasty by analyzing post-operative narcotic usage, function and sleep
quality.

Inclusion Criteria:

- • Age > 25 years old

- Primary osteoarthritis of the knee

- Must be undergoing unilateral total knee arthroplasty

- Anesthesia assesment score I, II, or III

Exclusion Criteria:

- Severe joint malalignment (defined as varus/valgus angle > 20 deg)

- Use of gabapentin pre-operatively

- History of chronic pain (currently under treatment)

- History of substance abuse

- Impaired kidney function (defined as creatinine > 1.5)

- Epilepsy (currently on medication for treatment)

- Known allergy to Gabapentin

- Known history of depression or suicidal thoughts and behaviors

- Anyone who is not a candidate for general anesthesia or any other portion of the
investigator's standard of care.