Ali Meshkini
1, Morteza Ghojazadeh
2, Ardalan Golbahar-Haghighi
3*, Vahideh Zarea-Gavgani
4, Sepideh Lotfi-Sadigh
31 Professor, Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Department of Neurosurgical Sciences, Imam Reza Teaching Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Liver and Gastrointestinal Disease Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Student of Medicine, School of Medicine, Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
4 Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Library and Information Science (DMLIS), School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Phenytoin (PHT) is used for seizure
prophylaxis in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However,
levetiracetam (LEV) is emerging as an alternative. Hence in this study, we
aimed to conduct a meta-analysis comparing these two drugs in patients
with TBI.
Methods: A systematic search in
electronic databases was performed. Studies consistent with our purpose
(comparing LEV vs. PHT for the prevention of seizures in TBI patients) were
selected for our meta-analysis. We extracted data of all eligible studies on a
standard abstraction sheets. Extracted data included patient’s demographics,
study type, intervention, and outcome. We defined seizures as primary outcome.
Results: 1184 unduplicated papers identified by our search
of which 1106 were excluded by reading the abstract and titles. 72 papers were
removed by reading the full text. Finally 6 studies (Cohort studies) were
selected for analysis. There is no superiority of either these two drugs at
preventing of seizures based on the point estimate’s odds ratio (OR) = 1.1
[95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.55-2.20].
Conclusion: PHT and LEV showed equal efficacy in
prevention of seizures after TBI