Original ResearchUse of an antiepileptic drug to control epileptic seizures associated with cranioplasty: A randomized controlled trial

•The incidence of epilepsy associated with the cranioplasty is 28.6%.•Early use of anti-epileptic drugs can effectively reduce the occurrence of seizures to 5.9%.•Early use of anti-epileptic drugs shows few side effects.

BackgroundEpilepsy is a common complication of cranioplasty. The present study was designed to explore the clinical effect of prophylactic anti-epilepsy drugs (AED) to control epileptic seizures associated with cranioplasty.Methodsand design: This trial was a prospective, randomized, open-label, single-centre, active controlled study designed to investigate the use of antiepileptic drug to control epileptic seizures associated with cranioplasty. We tested the necessity and methods of drug use. Three hundred twenty epilepsy patients who underwent cranioplasty were included in this study. The patients were randomly divided into the control group (160 cases) and the experimental group (160 cases). AED were administered to experimental group from 4 days before the surgery until 1 month after the surgery. The incidence of early and late epileptic seizures after cranioplasty was analyzed. The liver function, abnormal blood test 1 month after surgery were compared between these two groups.ResultsThe incidence of seizures in the Control group was 28.6% (43 cases in 149 cases) while in the experimental group was only 5.9% (9 cases in 151 cases), which had statistical significance. The incidence of epileptic seizure was significantly higher in patients who received no AED treatment than in those who received AED treatment. Besides, the abnormal liver function and blood routine examination in both control and experimental group had no significant differences.ConclusionThe incidence of epilepsy associated with the cranioplasty is high and early use of anti-epileptic drugs can effectively reduce the occurrence of seizures.