Sodium valproate in trigeminal neuralgia

Sodium valproate, which has been recently introduced for the treatment of epilepsy, was tried in 20 patients with trigeminal neuralgia. Six out of 20 patients had no attacks for six months to 18 months while, in three patients, the frequency and severity of attacks were reduced by at least 50%. Four patients responded well when sodium valproate was used in combination with other drugs. Six patients showed little or no response while one patient showed poor tolerance to sodium valproate.