Anti-Epileptic Drugs in Geriatric Neurosurgery: A Review of 669 Neurosurgical Cases

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients over the age of 75 are more likely to develop epilepsy than children under the age of 10. Patients of all ages are prescribed anti-epileptic drugs; however, those over the age of 65 are the most typically prescribed group. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of geriatric cases admitted to the Neurosurgery Department in Khoula Hospital from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019. A medical records of 669 patients were identified. Patients’ demographics, risk factors, usage of anti-epileptic drug (AED), type of tumor, tumor location, neuro-vital signs diagnosis, Glasgow coma scale on arrival, treatment types, and length of stay (LOS) were recorded. RESULTS: The prevalence of AEDs use was 19%. Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were found to have a higher rate of using AEDs (32.1%) followed by patients with oncological and vascular pathologies, respectively (30.1% and 21.6%). There was a significant relationship between the utilization of AEDs among different neurological diseases investigated (p<0.05). Patients who received surgical interventions were using AEDs much more than patients with conservative management (p=0.001). There was a significant difference in the LOS and the usage of AEDs. Added to that, the results signify a relationship between the intensive care unit (ICU) admission and the utilization of AEDs in which the majority of the patients who were not on AEDs were not admitted to the ICU (p<0.05). Phenytoin was the most commonly used AED among different neurosurgical pathologies in the present study (n=110). CONCLUSIONS: AEDs are used as prophylaxis to prevent seizures before most neurosurgical procedures and were commonly prescribed in TBI patients. Phenytoin was found to be the commonest AEDs utilized among the different neurosurgical categories followed by levetiracetam.