title: Efficacy and Safety of Gabapentin vs. Carbamazepine in the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of gabapentin in comparison with carbamazepine in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was performed. Two reviewers independently selected studies, assessed study quality, and extracted data. Sixteen randomized controlled trials that included 1,331 patients were assessed. The meta-analysis showed that the total effective rate of gabapentin therapy group was similar with carbamazepine therapy group (OR = 1.600, 95% CI 1.185, 2.161, P = 0.002). While the effective rate of gabapentin therapy for 4 weeks was higher than that of carbamazepine therapy (OR = 1.495, 95% CI 1.061, 2.107, P = 0.022, heterogeneity: x2= 7.12, P = 0.625, I2= 0.0%), the life satisfaction improvement is also better in the gabapentin therapy group after a 4-week treatment (SMD = 0.966, 95% CI 0.583, 1.348, P < 0.001). Furthermore, our meta-analysis suggested that the adverse reaction rate of gabapentin therapy group was significantly lower than that of carbamazepine therapy group (OR = 0.312, 95% CI 0.240, 0.407, P < 0.001). In conclusion, present trials comparing gabapentin with carbamazepine are all poor in terms of methodological quality. Based on the available evidence, it is not possible to draw conclusions regarding the efficacy and side effects of gabapentin being superior to carbamazepine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Pathogenic Biology, The Basic Medical College of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Huang-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Long
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Shen-Jian
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: carbamazepine; efficacy; gabapentin; meta-analysis; safety; trigeminal neuralgia