Antiepileptic drugs have been used beyond treatment of seizure disorders since the 1960s. As new antiepileptic drugs have become available, there has been interest in how they compare with older therapies (carbamazepine, phenytoin, and valproate) and each other in disorders where conventional pharmacotherapy has typically been suboptimal and limited by drug-related toxicity. The objective of this report is to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and harms of antiepileptic drugs used for bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, migraine prophylaxis, and chronic pain.

Contents

• Introduction
  • Indications Addressed
  • Scales and Tests Used to Measure Outcomes
  • Purpose and Limitations of Systematic Reviews
  • Scope and Key Questions
• Methods
  • Inclusion Criteria
  • Study Designs
  • Literature Search
  • Study Selection
  • Data Abstraction
  • Quality Assessment
  • Data Synthesis
  • Meta-Analysis of Specific Adverse Events
  • Peer and Public Review
• Results
  • Overview
  • Summary of Findings
  • Detailed Assessment
• References
• Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Rating scales
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Search strategy and update history
  • Appendix D. Methods used to assess quality of studies
  • Appendix E. Meta-analysis of specific adverse events associated with antiepileptic drugs in the treatment of bipolar disorder
  • Appendix F. Excluded studies
• Evidence Tables

Original report and Update 1: Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center, RAND, Paul Shekelle, MD, PhD, Director.

Leah Williams and Arkady Mak, PhD, MD, contributed to this report by formatting and editing the manuscript. Laurie Huffman, MS, Brittany Burda, BS, Trish Thieda, MA, Miranda Walker, MA, and Tracy Dana, MLS assisted with data abstraction and quality assessment of studies. Theresa Nguyen and Allison Low assisted through article retrieval, and assistance with editing and formatting.

Suggested citation:

McDonagh M, Peterson K, Lee N, Thakurta S. Drug class review: Antiepileptic drugs for indications other than epilepsy. Update 2. http://derp.ohsu.edu/about/final-products.cfm

The purpose of this report is to make available information regarding the comparative effectiveness and safety profiles of different drugs within pharmaceutical classes. Reports are not usage guidelines, nor should they be read as an endorsement of, or recommendation for, any particular drug, use or approach. Oregon Health & Science University does not recommend or endorse any guideline or recommendation developed by users of these reports.