Abstract | BACKGROUND: OBJECTIVES: SEARCH STRATEGY: Randomised trials (RCTs) of anticonvulsants in acute, chronic or cancer pain were identified by MEDLINE (1966-2004), EMBASE (1994-2004), SIGLE (1980-2004) and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CENTRAL/CCTR) (Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2003). In addition, 41 medical journals were hand searched for a previous version of this review. Additional reports were identified from the reference list of the retrieved papers, and by contacting investigators. Date of most recent search: November 2004. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials reporting the analgesic effects of carbamazepine in patients, with subjective pain assessment as either the primary or a secondary outcome. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted by two independent reviewers, and trials were quality scored. Numbers-needed-to-treat (NNTs) were calculated from dichotomous data for effectiveness, adverse effects and drug-related study withdrawal, for individual studies and for pooled data. MAIN RESULTS: Twelve studies were included (404 participants). Four studies included trigeminal neuralgia patients. Two studies which provided evaluable data yielded an NNT for effectiveness of 1.8 (95%CI 1.4-2.8). For diabetic neuropathy there was insufficient data for an NNT to be calculated.Numbers-needed-to-harm (NNHs) were calculated where possible by combining studies for each drug entity irrespective of the condition treated. The results were, for minor harm, carbamazepine 3.7 (CI 2.4-7.8), NNHs for major harm were not statistically significant for carbamazepine compared with placebo. There is no evidence that carbamazepine is effective for acute pain. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is evidence to show that carbamazepine is effective but trials are small.
|
Authors | P J Wiffen, H J McQuay, R A Moore |
Journal | The Cochrane database of systematic reviews
(Cochrane Database Syst Rev)
Issue 3
Pg. CD005451
(Jul 20 2005)
ISSN: 1469-493X [Electronic] England |
PMID | 16034977
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Review, Systematic Review)
|
Chemical References |
- Analgesics, Non-Narcotic
- Anticonvulsants
- Carbamazepine
|
Topics |
- Acute Disease
- Analgesics, Non-Narcotic
(therapeutic use)
- Anticonvulsants
(therapeutic use)
- Carbamazepine
(therapeutic use)
- Chronic Disease
- Humans
- Pain
(drug therapy)
|