AbstractThe international association for the study of pain has defined pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Unrelieved postoperative pain can lead to lot of problems. Gabapentine is an anti convulsant which can be used as a preemptive analgesic. Aim: to assess the optimal dose of preemptive oral gabapentine Materials and Methods: The patients were divided into following groups: Group 1: Patient receiving only postoperative Epidural analgesia with 6 ml of 0.125% Bupivacaine plus 1 mcg/Kg Fentanyl. Group 2: Patient receiving postoperative Epidural analgesia with 6 ml of 0.125% Bupivacaine plus 1 mcg/Kg Fentanyl with 10 mg/ Kg Oral Gabapentin 1 Hour before induction with a sip of water.Group 3 Patient receiving postoperative Epidural analgesia with 6 ml of 0.125% Bupivacaine plus 1 mcg/Kg Fentanyl with 15 mg/Kg Oral Gabapentin 1 Hour before induction with a sip of water. Group 4: Patient receiving postoperative Epidural analgesia with 6 ml of 0.125% Bupivacaine plus 1 mcg/Kg Fentanyl with 20 mg/Kg Oral Gabapentin 1 Hour before induction with a sip of water. All patients surgery was carried out under standart general anaesthetic technique and for postoperative pain epidural catheter was placed in L1-L2 space before induction. Results: on comparing VAS score there was not much difference in each group while shifting. Number of epiduaraltopups was significantly reduced in group 3 and 4. Patient satisfaction was good in group 3 and 4. But complication were less in group 3 compared to group 4 Conclusion: So oral Gabapentin 15mg/kg dose would be the optimal preemptive dose for postoperative epidural analgesia.