Efficacy and safety of levetiracetam versus valproic acid in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy：a meta analysis / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety of levetiracetam versus valproic acid in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy， and to provide evidence-based reference. METHODS The databases including CNKI， VIP， China Biomedical Literature Database， Wanfang data， PubMed， Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for the RCTs about levetiracetam （trial group） and valproic acid （control group） were collected from the inception to October 1st， 2021. After literature screening and data extraction， the quality of included literature was evaluated using the bias risk assessment tool recommended by Cochrane system evaluator manual 5.1.0 and RevMan 5.3 software were used for meta-analysis， sensitivity analysis and bias risk analysis. RESULTS A total of 33 RCTs were included， involving 3 116 patients in total. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the effective rate of trial group was significantly higher than control group [RR＝1.06， 95%CI （1.02， 1.11）， P＝0.003]. The subgroup analysis according to different courses of treatment showed that there was no statistical significance in the effective rate between 2 groups after 1 and 3 months of treatment （P＞0.05）； after 6 months of treatment， the effective rate of trial group was significantly higher than that of control group （P＜0.05）. The incidence of adverse drug reaction in trial group was significantly lower than control group [RR＝0.50， 95%CI （0.41， 0.61）， P＜0.000 01]； among specific adverse drug reactions， the incidence of nausea and vomiting in trial group was significantly lower than control group （P＜0.05）； but there was no statistical significance in the incidence of rash， drowsiness， abnormal mood， loss of appetite， dizziness or headache （P＞0.05）. Results of sensitivity analysis showed that study results were stable and reliable. Results of publication bias analysis showed that there was little possibility of publication bias in this study. CONCLUSIONS The short-term efficacy （1， 3 months） of LEV is similar to that of VPA in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy， but long-term efficacy （6 months） of LEV is better than that of VPA； moreover， LEV shows better safety in digestive system.