DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i03.070

Pages: 1222-1229

Background: The goal of antiepileptic therapy is to achieve complete seizure control with minimum adverse effects. The drugs available in the market for the treatment of epilepsy have their own new and unique adverse drug reaction profile. Objective: To monitor the Adverse Drug Reactions with the use of anti-epileptic drugs in epileptic patients. Methodology: The study was a hospital based cross sectional study conducted by the Department of Pharmacology in association with the Department of Medicine, Government Medical College, and Srinagar. The patients coming to the Neurology Department, SMHS Hospital were studied. An assessment of the causality and allocation of ADRs was done using Naranjo’s monitoring scale and WHO-UMC scale. The severity of ADRs was determined by using the modified Hart Wig and Siegel Scale (1992). Results: Phenytoin, valproate and carbamazepine were the most common drugs prescribed to the extent of 31.3%, 23.1% and 14.2% respectively. A total of 121 ADRs with 35 different types were observed in 68 patients, with an overall prevalence of about 50.7%. Seventy three ADRs (60.3%) were categorized as having a ‘probable’ causal relationship with the antiepileptic drug as per the Naranjo’s monitoring scale and 48 (39.7%) was categorized as ‘possible’ as per the Naranjo’s scale. Forty four (36.4%) ADRs were classified as ‘possible’, 73 (60.3%) were classified as ‘probable’ and 4 (3.3%) were classified as ‘unlikely’ as per the WHO-UMC scale. All the reported ADRs were mild to moderate in severity according to modified Hart wig and Siegel scale. Conclusion: Physicians and other health care professionals treating antiepileptic patients should have a good knowledge about possible ADRs following antiepileptic medication and thus keep an active vigil to prevent, treat and alleviate the adverse health effects due to ADRs. The establishment of an active pharmacovigilance programme is hence an essential requirement to any health institution.