• Wilhelmus J J M Martin and Tymour Forouzanfar.
• Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center/Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2011 May 1;111(5):627-33.

ObjectiveControversy exists about the effectiveness of anticonvulsants for the management of orofacial pain disorders. To ascertain appropriate therapies, a systematic review was conducted of existing randomized controlled trials.Study DesignTrials were identified from PubMed, Cochrane, and Ovid Medline databases from 1962 through March 2010, from references in retrieved reports, and from references in review articles. Eight useful trials were identified for this review. Six studies were randomized placebo-controlled trials and 2 studies were randomized active-controlled. Two independent investigators reviewed these articles by using a 15-item checklist.ResultsFour studies were classified as "high quality." However, heterogeneity of the trials and the small sample sizes precluded the drawing of firm conclusions about the efficacy of the interventions studied on orofacial pain patients.ConclusionsThere is limited to moderate evidence supporting the efficacy of commonly used anticonvulsants for treatment of patients with orofacial pain disorders. More randomized controlled trials are needed on the efficacy of anticonvulsants.Copyright © 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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