The combined use of carbamazepine,topiramate and levetiracetam in treating traumatic intractable epilepsy

Objective To study the combined use of carbamazepine,topiramate and levetiracetam in treating traumatic intractable epilepsy. Methods A total of 180 patients with traumatic intractable epilepsy from Jun. 2009 to Feb. 2013 were randomly divided into control group and observation group 1,group 2( 60 cases in each group). Patients in the control group were given carbamazepine and topiramate; patients in the observation group 1 were treated with carbamazepine,topiramate and levetiracetam; and patients in the observation group 2 were given levetiracetam alone. The epileptic seizure frequency,duration,and adverse reactions of the three groups before and after the treatment were compared and the curative effect was evaluated. Results The total effective rate of the observation group 1 was 93. 33%( 56 /60),significantly higher than the 81. 67% of the observation group 2( 49 /60) and 78. 33%( 47 /60) of the control group,with a statistically significant difference( χ2= 5. 23,5. 67,P 0. 05); while there was no significant difference between the observation group 2 and the control group( P 0. 05). The epilepsy seizure frequency of the three groups after treatment was significantly lower than before treatment( P 0. 05), which was significantly lower in the observation group 1 than the control group and the observation group 2( P 0. 05),and had no significant difference between the observation group 2 and the control group( P 0. 05). The adverse reaction of the observation group 1,the observation group 2 and the control group was 21. 67%( 13 /60),15%( 9/60),and 16. 67%( 10/60),respectively,indicating no statistically significant difference among the three groups( P 0. 05). Conclusion The combined use of carbamazepine,topiramate and levetiracetam in treating traumatic intractable epilepsy can significantly improve the curative effect,reduce the number of epileptic seizures and have good security. This treatment method can be a useful therapeutic option for the traumatic intractable epilepsy.