Efficacy of Carbamazepine and Oxcarbazepine for Treating Trigeminal Neuralgia

Objective: To compare the efficacy of carbamazepine with oxcarbazepine for treating Trigeminal Neuralgia Methodology: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted at Department of Oral Biology and Tooth Morphology, University Medical and Dental College (UMDC) Faisalabad, from October 2021 to April 2022. Total 56 patients (28 in each groups were randomized to revise carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine). Patient’s selection was based on a predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.  In Group-A patients were given Carbamazepine (200mg twice a day upto1800mg) and in Group-B patients were given Ox-carbamazepine (200mg BD daily up-to 1200mg). Safety was measured in terms of side effects seen in patients after treatment allocation. The response of the patients to therapeutic effectiveness of drug was decided based on the frequency of attacks, i.e., good response: no attacks of pain; average response: two to three attacks of pain per day; and nonresponsive with no decrease in the frequency of attacks of pain.    Results: Results showed higher efficacy for oxcarbazepine when compared with carbamazepine. i.e. Complete response= Carbamazepine: 42.9% vs. Oxcarbazepine:67.9%, p-value=0.017 Mean pain score was significantly better with oxcarbazepine (2.82±0.77) when compared with carbamazepine (4.36±0.86). i.e. p-value<0.001. Safety profile was also better for oxcarbazepine as that of carbamazepine. Frequency of adverse effects was higher for carbamazepine as that of Oxcarbazepine. i.e. 35.7% vs. 14.3%, p-value=0.064  Conclusion: It is concluded that oxycarbazepine is more effective in terms of efficacy, side effects and pain control as that of carbamazepine in the management of Trigeminal neuralgia.