Author(s)

Shamim H. Nejad, Kathy Chuang, Ronald Hirschberg, Patrick R. Aquino, Gregory L. Fricchione

Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, Lahey Medical Center, Burlington, MA, USA.
Division of Psychiatry and Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital,Boston, MA, USA.

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), have demonstrated efficacy treating a number of acute conditions, encompassing a broad range of symptoms and syndromes, in addition to being first-line treatment for epilepsy. Clinically, since their inception, AEDs have been used off-label for acute and chronic medical conditions, both as primary and as adjuvant therapies. In this review, we describe the observed clinical effectiveness of AEDs across a set of commonly encountered acute conditions in the general hospital: traumatic brain injury, pain, alcohol withdrawal. In describing the individual benefits and usages of specific agents, the applicability of these agents to other common neuropsychiatric conditions may be further explored.

Antiepileptic Drugs, Traumatic Brain Injury, Alcohol Withdrawal, Pain, Valproic Acid, Carbamazepine

Nejad, S. , Chuang, K. , Hirschberg, R. , Aquino, P. and Fricchione, G. (2014) The Use of Antiepileptic Drugs in Acute Neuropsychiatric Conditions: Focus on Traumatic Brain Injury, Pain, and Alcohol Withdrawal. International Journal of Clinical Medicine, 5, 724-736. doi: 10.4236/ijcm.2014.512099.