Abstracts

RATIONALE: The focus of the care of patients with epilepsy is usually devoted to seizure diagnosis and treatment (medical and surgical). While there has been increased interest in quality of life issues, relatively little attention has been spent on complaints of pain in patients with epilepsy. METHODS: A retrospective review of 60 consecutive charts from predominantly adult outpatients with a diagnosis of epilepsy was done to determine how many patients had complaints of any type of pain. Further analysis was performed to determine the type of pain. RESULTS: The mean age of this group was 41.6 years. 87% of the patients had partial epilepsy. 53% of the entire group had not had a seizure in at least one month. 30% of patients had complained of pain during the previous office visit, although they were not specifically queried about it. Of this group, 56% of the pain complaints were for migraine or other headache. The remaining pain complaints were mostly musculoskeletal. Most patients were taking analgesics, intermittently. CONCLUSIONS: Complaints of pain are fairly common in patients with epilepsy, and may be brought up spontaneously during the outpatient visit. We suspect that the true prevalence of pain complaints in this population is probably higher, which might be demonstrated by a prospective study. This is not only a quality of life issue, but may well impact on the control of seizures in this population. Pain may lead to increased stress, lack of or disrupted sleep, use of concomitant medication (possible drug-drug interactions), and ultimately poorer seizure control. While this needs to be studied further, clinicians should be aware that complaints of pain and its control may be an important factor in the care of patients with epilepsy.