Background:

epilepsy is one of the most frequent neurological diseases and almost 30 % of patients who suffer from it do not get control with classic antiepileptic drugs.

Objective:

to characterize prescription patterns of new antiepileptic drugs in Camagüey municipality.

Methods:

a descriptive and cross-section study about use of medicines, of prescription-indication type with elements of therapeutic scheme was conducted. The study universe was composed of 300 patients and all of them were included in the research. The following variables were studied: group of age, indications, associations and interval of administration.

Results:

the use of vigabatrin and lamotrigin prevailed in children and patients with diagnosis of epilepsy while the Gabapentin was more frequent used in adults and neuropathic pain. Vigabatrin and lamotrigin were mainly used in associations with classical antiepileptic drugs, being valproic acid the most used drug on it. Gabapentin was used alone. There were mistakes on intervals of administration of all studied drugs.

Conclusions:

the prescription of new antiepileptic drugs was adequate in most cases. Identified mistakes were related to intervals of administration.

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