Advantages And Disadvantages Of Phenytoin

Aptiom and Phenytoin may both be anticonvulsants, yet they have many points of contrasting variation which exemplify their individual advantages and disadvantages. For example, they have differing amounts of clinical research, drug therapy regimen variance, and cost differences that make the each drug distinct and highly distinguishable from the other. Phenytoin was first synthesized in 1908 and was approved by the FDA in 1939 (Ogbru, n.d). Since then, it has become one of the most commonly used antiepileptic medications in North America. An extensive amount of careful scientific trials has been done in a great number of patients (Epilepsy Foundation, n.d). It is best used to treat partial-onset seizures, but has value in treating tonic-clonic …show more content…
It costs approx $720.00 for thirty, 800mg tablets compared to $136.00 for the equivalent amount the brand name Phenytoin, Dilantin. Generic brands of phenytoin are even more inexpensive. According to Gregory L. Barklet, Chair of the Epilepsy Foundation’s advisory board and clinical vice chair of neurology at Detroit Henry Ford Hospital, “ The issue with phenytoin is it is the single most difficult anticonvulsant drug to use because it has very different metabolism than most medicines – small changes in dose result in wild swings in metabolism.” As a result of this, even small differences between Dilantin and generic name Phenytoin can cause huge clinical effects if a patient decided to switch from the brand name to a generic cheaper brand (DeNoon, …show more content…
Oftentimes, it is used alongside another drug for best results. Aptiom lacks the cardiac contraindications that phenytoin has, which could benefit those with seizures and heart conditions. However, it has other contraindications, such as severe hepatic or renal impairment, hyponatremia, and suicidal ideation. All of these pre-existing states could be worsened with the administration aptiom. It should not be used if there is a known hypersensitivity to its active ingredients, eslicarbazepine acetate or oxcarbazepine. Additionally, like phenytoin, aptiom is cautioned during pregnancy because it passes into the breast milk, which could affect a nursing child (Aptiom (eslicarbazepine acetate), 2015). Phenytoin has been around for a longer period of time and there has been more research done on it, while aptiom is still relatively new and it is not well understood exactly how it could affect different systems in the