Gabapentin as add‐on therapy in children with refractory partial seizures: a 24‐week, multicentre, open‐label study

Abstract

The efficacy and safety of gabapentin as add‐on therapy for refractory partial seizures in 237 children, aged 3 to 12 years were evaluated over a 6‐month period. All children received gabapentin at 24 to 70 mg/kg/day. Efficacy variables included the percent change in seizure frequency and the responder rate (defined as those patients who showed >50% reduction in seizure frequency). For all partial seizures, the median percent change in seizure frequency was ‐34% and the overall responder rate was 34%. Simple partial seizures showed a median reduction of‐53%; complex partial seizures, ‐38%; and secondarily generalized tonic‐clonic seizures, ‐35%. Thirteen patients (5%) withdrew during the 6‐month period because of adverse events. Concurrent antiepileptic medication remained unchanged in 185 patients (78%), was decreased in 27 (11%), and increased in 25 (11%) patients. This 6‐month follow‐up study has demonstrated that gabapentin was well tolerated and appeared to show a sustained efficacy in a large population of children with refractory partial and secondarily generalized tonic‐clonic seizures.