Randomized Control Trial of Gabapentin and Carbamazepine in the Treatment of Recurrent Trigeminal Neuralgia

Objective To study the efficacy and safety of Gabapentin and Carbamazepine in treatment of recurrent trigeminal neuralgia(RTN).Methods Fifty RTN patients were divided randomly into groups C(taking Carbamzepine) and G(taking Gabapentin),25 in each.Visual analog scale(VAS) was used to analyze pain relief before treatment and after 1,2,4 weeks of treatment,drug dosage,and life satisfaction index B(LSI-B) used to evaluate patients' life satisfaction,and efficacy,adverse events observed.Results A total of 48 patients finished this study,thereinto 23 in group C,25 in group G.The average drug dosage was(1 884 ± 546) mg / d in group G,(652 ± 121) mg / d in group C,the difference was significant(P 0.01).There was difference in VAS at different time before and after treatment(P 0.01);VAS after 1,2,4 weeks of treatment decreased as compared with that of pre-treatment(P 0.01).There was no difference in VAS between the two groups before treatment and after 2,4 weeks of treatment(P 0.05).LSI-B after 4 weeks of treatment was higher than that before treatment in 2 groups(P 0.05),and that of group G higher than that of group C(P 0.01).There was no difference in efficacy between 2 groups after 1,2,4 weeks of treatment(P 0.05).The incidence of adverse reactions of group G was 28.0%(7 /25),lower than that of group C 〔56.5%(13 /23) 〕,the difference was significant(P 0.05).Conclusion Gabapentin and Carbamazepine are effective and safe in treatment of RTN,but Gabapentin is superior to Carbamazepine.