Anti-seizure drug calms irritable kids

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) Treatment with the anti-seizure drug gabapentin may improve the irritability seen in certain children with neurologic impairments, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

''Irritability may represent abnormal signaling of the...nervous system,'' lead investigator Dr. Julie M Hauer told Reuters Health.

The present study suggests pain in the gastrointestinal tract is ''a plausible source of chronic irritability in neurologically impaired children.'' Hauer, who is currently at Children's Hospital Boston, and colleagues point out that neurologically impaired children have higher than normal rates of chronic pain and irritability that persist in children despite thorough medical examination and treatment of possible pain sources. Parents commonly identify the gastrointestinal tract as a source of pain in these children.

The researchers conducted a review of the files of nine children who had been treated with gabapentin for recurrent disruptive irritability. None of the children could speak or walk and they often cried on a daily basis for an hour or longer.

After initiation of gabapentin therapy, the children appeared to be symptom-free for periods ranging from 3 months to 3 years.

For one child, the parents requested that treatment be halted, despite excellent symptom control, because of involuntary eye movements that arose with use of the drug. The symptoms returned within one week.

In another child, who had been successfully treated for 2 years, discontinuation of gabapentin also led to a recurrence of symptoms. The symptoms resolved when therapy was restarted.

For such children, Hauer concluded, the findings ''suggest a trial of gabapentin when there is no identifiable source of pain despite comprehensive evaluation and management.'' REUTERS SSC VC08=44