Table 15.

Level of evidence, scientific strength of evidence, clinical effectiveness, adverse events of preventive drugs for SUNCT

Drug	Daily dosage (mg)	Level of evidence	Scientific strength of evidencea	Clinical effectiveness	Adverse events	No. of cases	References
Topiramate oral	75	C	0/+	++	Mild	2	[333]
Topiramate oral	50	C	0/+	+++	–	1	[334]
Carbamazepine oral	200	C	0/+	++	–	1	[335]
Carbamazepine oral	400	C	0/+	+++	–	1	[336]
Carbamazepine oral	600–1,000	C	0/+	?	–	5	[337–340]
Carbamazepine oral	2,000	C	0/+	?	–	1	[341]
Gabapentin oral	800–2,700	C	0/+	+++	–	3	[342–344]
Lamotrigine oral	100–200	C	0/+	++	–	12	[345–350]
Lamotrigine oral	300–400	C	0/+	+++	–	2	[351, 352]
Verapamil	480	C	0/+	?	–	1	[353]
Topiramate oral	200	C	0/+	+++	–	1	[354]
Methylprednisolone oral	≤1 /kg	C	0/+	+++	–	3	[355]
Oxcarbazepine and gabapentin oral	600/400	C	0/+	++	Mild	1	[356]
Lidocaine i.v.	1.3 /kg/h	C	0/+	+++	–	1	[357]

^aThe scientific strength of evidence has been indicated as 0 (inefficacy)/+ because there is no comparison with placebo or one active agent but sometimes the efficacy of the tested drug has been demonstrated