Levetiracetam as preventive treatment in adults with migraine: an up-to-date systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis.

PURPOSE

The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate current evidence on the efficacy and safety of levetiracetam as migraine prophylaxis in adult patients suffering from migraine attacks.

METHODS

PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and International Web of Science were searched (last search in August 2018) for studies investigating levetiracetam for migraine prophylaxis in adults. Both randomized and non-randomized trials were eligible. Efficacy was the primary outcome, but tolerability was also investigated. The study is registered on PROSPERO, number CRD42018088900.

RESULTS

Nine studies, enrolling 215 patients, were included. Levetiracetam decreased the frequency of attacks with headache in all studies, with a pooled mean difference of -3.02 (95% CI: -4.59 to -1.45; I = 0%), -4.65(-7 to -2.3; I = 0%), and -5.71 (-8.60 to -2.82; I = 0%) at 1, 3, and 6 months compared with baseline. Three randomized controlled trials were included, and levetiracetam was superior to placebo in two but was inferior to sodium valproate in reducing headache frequency. Similar results were found in the other indices of efficacy, and levetiracetam was generally well tolerated.

CONCLUSION

Levetiracetam may be a relatively safe and efficacious treatment for the prophylaxis of migraine based on limited evidence, most from uncontrolled studies. Further evidence from randomized controlled trials is necessary.