Drug treatment of trigeminal neuralgia: a systematic review of the literature.
OBJECTIVE
This study undertook a systematic review of the literature on drug treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.


METHODS
An electronic search was carried out for articles published between January 1960 to February 2005. Studies with high level of evidence were included. The levels of evidence of the articles were classified after the guidelines of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine.


RESULTS
Of 770 publications, only 21 publications showed a high level of evidence (6 randomized controlled trials and 15 clinical trials/controlled clinical trials), with a total of 348 patients. A total of 749 publications were not included in the review as they showed a low level of evidence.


CONCLUSIONS
Anticonvulsants are effective in treating trigeminal neuralgia; however, few studies with high levels of evidence were found. It is quite difficult to compare or even combine their outcomes in a scientifically meaningful manner. Due to insufficient research data, there is a need for high-quality randomized controlled trials in this area of medicine.
Chole
Revant
R
Department of Oral Diagnosis, Medicine and Radiology, Sharad Pawar Dental College and Hospital, Sawangi (M), Wardha, Maharashtra, India. drchole@rediffmail.com
Patil
Ranjitkumar
R
Degwekar
Shirish S
SS
Bhowate
Rahul R
RR
D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000927:Anticonvulsants