Comparison of the effect of oxcarbazepine and carbamazepine in the treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia

Objective To compare the effect of oxcarbazepine and carbamazepine in the treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia(PTN),to find a therapy with reliable curative effect and less adverse reaction.Methods 44 patients with PTN received oxcarbazepine (treatment group) treatment,and 34 PTN patients received carbamazepine (control group) treatment.The clinical effect of two drugs in the treatment of PTN was compared.Visual analogue scale(VAS) was used to assess the pain of patients before treatment,1 week after treatment,2 months after the treatment.Results After 1 week and 2 months treatment,VAS score of the two groups were (52.09 ± 7.14)points,(45.10 ± 5.53) points,(28.47 ± 3.22) points,(16.79 ± 2.50) points,which were significantly lower than that before treatment [(80.67 ± 10.32) points,(81.94 ± 12.09) points],the differences were statistically significant (t =0.341,0.589,0.374,0.675,all P ＜ 0.05).After 1 week and 2 months treatment,the VAS score in treatment group was significantly lower than that in the control group (t =0.310,0.532,P ＜ 0.05).The incidence rate of adverse reaction in the control group was 17.6％,the incidence rate of adverse reaction in the treatment group was 9.1％,which had significant difference(x2 =16.521,P ＜ 0.05).The adverse reactions of two groups including rash,nausea and vomiting,drowsiness.Liver function examination showed that oxcarbazepine had less liver injury than carbamazepine.Conclusion Oxcarbasepine is a new drug for the treatment of PTN,its curative effect and safety is better than carbamazepine,it has high value in clinical application. Key words: Oxcarbazepine;  Carbamazepine;  Trigeminal neuralgia