JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Sur

Trial evaluates gabapentin as treatment for COVID-19–related olfactory dysfunction

September 22, 2023

Gabapentin wasn’t associated with statistically significant or clinically meaningful benefit over placebo, suggesting that it shouldn’t be considered as a potential therapeutic agent for COVID-19–induced OD.

• In the double-blinded, placebo-controlled GRACE trial, adults with ≥3 months of OD after COVID-19 infection were randomized 1:1 to oral gabapentin or placebo. All participants underwent titration to a maximum tolerable dose, which was maintained during an 8-week fixed-dose (FD) phase then tapered off. Primary outcome was response rate determined by subjective improvement in OD on the Clinical Global Impression of Improvement (CGI-I) following the FD phase. Other subjective and objective measures of olfactory function were assessed as secondary outcome measures.
• Sixty-eight patients were enrolled (34 randomized to each arm), of whom, 44 completed the FD period and 20 (45.4%) reported response to treatment (at least slight improvement in olfaction from baseline). Of those randomized, 75% were women, 82% were White, and mean age was 43 years.
• Of 18 participants in the gabapentin group, 44% were responders, and of 26 participants in the placebo group, 46% reported response to treatment. None of the secondary outcome measures demonstrated any clinically meaningful or statistically significant difference between the gabapentin and placebo groups. No serious adverse events were reported.

Source:

Mahadev, A. et al. (2023, September 21). JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. Efficacy of Gabapentin For Post-COVID-19 Olfactory Dysfunction: The GRACE Randomized Clinical Trial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37733356/