[Interference of anticonvulsants in the rehabilitation treatment].

Aim of this study is to investigate whether the adverse neuropsychiatric effects of anticonvulsant drugs can affect the results of physical therapy. The influence of these drugs on neurological and/or psychological functions is considered an important factor in conditioning the active psycho-perceptuo-motor learning of child during physical therapy. Our case series included 30 children aged 4; 20 to 23 months. Ten (6 males; 4 females) received both physical therapy and anticonvulsants (generally single-drug therapy) (first group). Ten (3 males; 7 females) received only physical therapy (second group). The third group (5 males; 5 females) received only anticonvulsant drugs. All children were followed up for 4 years. Not significant differences in any of the scores obtained with standard and neuropsychological tests were found between the 3 groups. No significant change of muscle trophism was found between the 3 groups. The changes of tonus, found in the first two groups, were not significantly different, for these groups. Our findings seem to disagree from those reported by the most recent studies and suggest that anticonvulsant therapy doesn't interfere with the efficacy of physical therapy. However, our data cannot be generalized due to limited number of patients included in our series and further studies are needed.