ArticleCureus2026
Brivaracetam Use in Managing Seizures Following Traumatic Brain Injury.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability and mortality worldwide, frequently complicated by post-traumatic seizures (PTS). Levetiracetam (LEV) is widely used for seizure prophylaxis but is often associated with behavioral adverse effects. Brivaracetam (BRV), a newer antiseizure medication with higher synaptic vesicle 2A (SV2A) affinity, may offer similar efficacy with improved tolerability. This study compared the effectiveness and neurobehavioral outcomes of BRV versus LEV in TBI patients.
methodsThis prospective cohort study was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery at a tertiary care hospital. A total of 132 adults with neuroimaging-confirmed TBI were enrolled and followed for six months. Patients were allocated into two groups based on the antiseizure medication prescribed at the treating physician's discretion: Group A received BRV and Group B received LEV. The primary outcome was the occurrence of post-traumatic seizures, classified as early (<7 days) or late (>7 days post-injury). Secondary outcomes included functional recovery assessed by the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) and neurobehavioral symptoms measured using the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI).
resultsBaseline characteristics, including age (mean 47.4 ± 20.8 vs. 47.0 ± 21.8 years; p = 0.38), sex distribution (p = 0.14), and TBI severity (p = 0.15), were comparable between groups. Over six months, 11 patients (16.6%) in the BRV group and 17 patients (25.7%) in the LEV group experienced seizures (p = 0.20). Early PTS occurred in six BRV (9.1%) and 10 LEV (15.1%) patients (p = 0.32), while late PTS occurred in five BRV (7.5%) and seven LEV (10.6%) patients (p = 0.46). GOSE scores were similar at all follow-up points (overall mean 7.09 ± 1.78 vs. 7.06 ± 1.76; p = 0.93). However, BRV-treated patients showed significantly lower NSI scores at day 14 (10.74 ± 7.11 vs. 40.06 ± 4.93; p = 0.005) and three months (4.70 ± 4.78 vs. 13.23 ± 2.44; p < 0.001), with no significant difference at six months. The overall mean NSI score remained lower in the BRV group (5.72 ± 5.08 vs. 22.85 ± 2.89; p < 0.001).
conclusionsBRV and LEV demonstrated comparable efficacy in preventing post-traumatic seizures in TBI patients. However, seizure incidence did not differ significantly in this sample. Although the study was underpowered for this outcome, BRV was associated with superior neurobehavioral outcomes, particularly during the early recovery period. These findings suggest that BRV may offer a more favorable tolerability profile for seizure prophylaxis following TBI. Larger multicenter studies are warranted to validate these results.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.