Relief of idiopathic subjective tinnitus: is gabapentin effective?

OBJECTIVE To assess the therapeutic benefit of gabapentin (Neurontin) for subjective idiopathic troublesome tinnitus. DESIGN An 8-week, double-blind, randomized clinical trial. SETTING Academic otolaryngology clinic in St Louis, Mo. SUBJECTS One hundred thirty-five subjects with severe idiopathic subjective tinnitus of 6 months' duration or longer. INTERVENTION Gabapentin, at a maintenance dosage of 900 to 3600 mg/d for 8 weeks, or lactose placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Change in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score from baseline to the study end point. RESULTS The overall change in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score for the entire cohort from baseline to week 8 was 11.2; the change among the 59 subjects randomized to the gabapentin arm was 11.3 and the change among the 56 subjects in the placebo arm was 11.0. The difference was 0.03 (95% confidence interval, -5.5 to 6.2; P = .91). CONCLUSION Gabapentin is no more effective than placebo for the relief of idiopathic subjective tinnitus. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00317850.