OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of oxcarbazepine (OXC) suspension in children with focal epilepsy.

METHODSA total of 118 children aged 2-14 years, who were newly diagnosed with focal epilepsy between October 2009 and December 2011, were randomly divided into experimental group (n=60) and control group (n=58). The experimental group was treated with an orally suspension of OXC and the control group was orally administered with carbamazepine (CBZ) tablets. The two treatment regimens were compared in terms of clinical efficacy and safety.

RESULTSAfter 13 and 26 weeks of treatment, the experimental group had response rates of 75% and 72% respectively and seizure-free rates of 53% and 50%, and the control group had response rates of 71% and 66% and seizure-free rates of 50% and 43% respectively. There were no significant differences in the clinical efficacy between the two groups (P>0.05). After 26 weeks of treatment, the adverse event rates of the experimental and control groups were 18% and 40% respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSOXC suspension has a comparable clinical efficacy to that of CBZ tablets in children aged 2-14 years who are newly diagnosed with focal epilepsy, but OXC suspension causes fewer adverse events and has higher safety.