DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjams.2026.v14i01.008

Pages: 51-55

Background: The incidence of epilepsy is highest in the infancy period among all age groups, affecting an estimated 70.1 out of every 100,000 in ≤ 2year old. Long term effects of pediatric epilepsy include GDD, ID, behavioral abnormalities, etc. To avoid these long-term impairments, it is crucial to treat childhood focal epilepsy with an appropriate anti-epileptic medication. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Child & Mother Health (ICMH), Matuail, Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 2023 to December 2023 with newly diagnosed focal epilepsy aged 2 months to 18 years attending in outpatient and inpatient department. Results: A total number of 80 children were recruited for this study. The primary outcome was assessed in 80 children In the OXC group, the overall response rate was 75.0%, and in the LEV group, it was 60% after 3 months of treatment. Measuring frequency of seizure before and after treatment. Seizure frequency decrease after treatment with both drugs where OXC group was 4.35(±3.37) to 1.45(±0.78) and LEV group was 5.57(±4.36) to 1.57(±0.81)/month respectively. Only adverse effect irritability was found more in LEV group (in percentile), but that was not statistically significant. Statistically significant improvements in EEG were found more in oxcarbazepine group than in levetiracetam group. Conclusion: In the treatment of focal epilepsy oxcarbazepine group was found to be more effective and safer than levetiracetam group, though it was not statistically significant.