Gabapentin for the Treatment of Patients With Somatization Disorder

Letter to the Editor

Sir: Somatization disorder is characterized by a pattern of multiple, clinically significant somatic complaints that cannot be fully explained by any known medical condition. The pharmacologic treatment of somatization disorder has scarcely been investigated owing to methodological problems, and no open or controlled trial has been conducted in patients with somatization disorder. Since pain is the most frequent symptom in somatization disorder, we selected gabapentin because it has demonstrated efficacy in patients with organic pain.