Abstract

PALAZUELOS ZAMBRANO, Consuelo María; LOPEZ SAUCEDO, Francisco  and  PENA TORRES, Leandro Miguel. Relationship between carbamazepine-serum level with the presence of pain and collateral effects in patients with trigeminal neuralgia at the HECMN «La Raza» from January 2003 to June 2004. Rev. Odont. Mex [online]. 2010, vol.14, n.2, pp.107-116. ISSN 1870-199X.

The relationship between the carbamazepine-serum level and the presence of pain and other collateral effects during the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia was studied. This study was prospective, descriptive, observational, longitudinal and open ended. The 23 patients used in this study had all been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia and were all being treated with carbamazepine. The doses of carbamazepine, the carbamazepine serum level and the collateral effects of using carbamazepine were obtained from the clinical files. The pain intensity was measured using the Analog Visual Scale (AVS), and the results were analyzed by using a descriptive statistic. The average age of the patients studied was 54 years. 74% of the patients were female and 26% were male. The most frequently affected branch of the trigeminal nerve was the mandibular branch (in 9 cases). The maxillary branch was affected in 6 cases and in 8 cases both the mandibular and the maxillary branches were affected at the same time. The doses of carbamazepine given to the patients varied between 2.06 µ g and 8.78 µ g. The secondary effects were nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, or a combination of these. There is no significant relationship between the carbamazepin-serum level and the presence of neuralgia in the trigeminal nerve or any secondary effects. The individual response to the carbamazepine can be attributed to several factors: age, physical activity, other illnesses, genetics, and the consumption, frequency and dose of the medicine.

Keywords : Trigeminal neuralgia; carbamazepine; carbamazepine-serum.

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