title: [Effectiveness of lacosamide in the treatment of refractory neuropathic pain: an open observational trial].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although different treatments are available for neuropathic pain, these patients are often refractory, which makes it necessary to test treatments that, as they have proven useful in other pathologies, could be effective in neuropathic pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study made use of the medical records of patients who had been treated with lacosamide for neuropathic pain in different hospitals in the central area of the peninsula and who fulfilled similar characteristics in terms of refractoriness to other standard treatments, in a follow-up that lasted at least six months, or who had had to stop treatment with that drug for some reason or another. A sample of 114 patients (61 males and 53 females) with a mean age of 60.5 years was obtained from the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most common causes of neuropathic pain were: diabetic polyneuropathy (31.6%), post-herpes neuralgia (22.8%), trigeminal neuralgia (17.5%), suboccipital and lumbar-radicular neuralgia (both 12.3%). Effectiveness was good/very good in most patients, with the mean score on the visual analogue scale after six months dropping from 7.7 to 4.8. No serious side effects were reported in any of the patients, but in 12 and 10 patients no recordings were made beyond six months, due to ineffectiveness and intolerance to the treatment, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment with lacosamide in neuropathic pain due to different causes could be considered an effective and well-tolerated alternative for patients who fail to respond to standard treatments.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario del Tajo, Aranjuez, Espana.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gómez-Argüelles
authors.forename: Pedro E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Bermejo
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lara
authors.forename: Jerónimo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Almajano
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aragón
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: García del Carrizo
authors.forename: M Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Valenzuela-Rojas
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Colás
authors.forename: Octavio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Del Valle
authors.forename: M Ángeles
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Ceballos
authors.forename: M Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Toribio-Díaz
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Latorre-González
authors.forename: Lucienne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Costa-Frossard
authors.forename: M del Mar
authors.initials: Mdel M
authors.lastname: Morin-Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult; D000081:Acetamides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000078334:Lacosamide; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000078334:Lacosamide