TITLE:
The Use of Antiepileptic Drugs in Acute Neuropsychiatric Conditions: Focus on Traumatic Brain Injury, Pain, and Alcohol Withdrawal
AUTHORS:
Shamim H. Nejad, Kathy Chuang, Ronald Hirschberg, Patrick R. Aquino, Gregory L. Fricchione
KEYWORDS:
Antiepileptic Drugs, Traumatic Brain Injury, Alcohol Withdrawal, Pain, Valproic Acid, Carbamazepine
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Clinical Medicine,
Vol.5 No.12,
June
30,
2014
ABSTRACT: Antiepileptic drugs
(AEDs), have demonstrated efficacy treating a number of acute conditions, encompassing
a broad range of symptoms and syndromes, in addition to being first-line
treatment for epilepsy. Clinically, since their inception, AEDs have been used
off-label for acute and chronic medical conditions, both as primary and as adjuvant
therapies. In this review, we describe the observed clinical effectiveness of
AEDs across a set of commonly encountered acute conditions in the general
hospital: traumatic brain injury, pain, alcohol withdrawal. In describing the
individual benefits and usages of specific agents, the applicability of these
agents to other common neuropsychiatric conditions may be further explored.