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Safety of non‐therapeutic levetiracetam ingestions—a poison center based study
Author(s) -
Bodmer Michael,
Monte Andrew. A.,
Kokko Jamie,
Yin Shan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.023
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1099-1557
pISSN - 1053-8569
DOI - 10.1002/pds.2113
Subject(s) - medicine , levetiracetam , poison control center , demographics , poison control , pediatrics , medical record , ingestion , injury prevention , adverse effect , pharmacoepidemiology , epilepsy , surgery , emergency medicine , psychiatry , medical prescription , pharmacology , demography , sociology
Background Very limited data is available regarding the safety of levetiracetam in cases of unintentional or intentional ingestions. Methods All cases of single agent ingestions of levetiracetam, excluding adverse drug reactions (ADRs), reported to 61 American poison control centers during 2000–2009 were identified. Demographics, dose, symptoms, and medical outcome were abstracted from each case record. Results A total of 222 cases of single agent levetiracetam ingestions were reported during the study period. Median age was 14.0 years (IQR: 2.0 years, 39.0 years) and 51.8% were female. In 207 of 222 cases (93.2%) medical outcome was known. No deaths were reported and only 1 (0.5%) case resulted in a major outcome and 3 (1.4%) cases resulted in moderate outcomes. Minor, minimal, or no effects were reported in 198 (89.2%) cases. In 27 (12.2%) cases, ingestion was intentional and in 192 (86.5%) unintentional. There were no major outcomes and only one case (1.4%) of moderate outcome in 74 children aged 6 years or less. All ingestions in these children were unintentional. Conclusions In this study with a limited number of cases, intentional and unintentional ingestions of levetiracetam were safe in the majority of cases. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.