Carbamazepine in the treatment of bipolar disorder: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Objective: Expand knowledge on the role and efficacy of carbamazepine (CBZ) in bipolar disorder (BD), based on original studies. Methods: The authors performed a systematic review of the scientific literature on the efficacy of CBZ in BD, using the PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science (ISI), and SciELO databases. The search terms were: (“carbamazepine”) AND (“bipolar” OR “mania” OR “manic”). There was no restriction on the year of publication. Results: A total of 27 articles were selected. Among the selected articles, 14 evaluated the use of CBZ in the manic phase of BD, two in the depressive phase of BD, and 11 in the maintenance phase of BD. In the studies on the manic phase of BD, CBZ proved superior to placebo (PLA). As for the depressive phase of BD, there were two studies, both with small samples. In the maintenance phase, CBZ was inferior to lithium, and no studies compared CBZ to PLA. Conclusion: The results of the clinical studies suggest that CBZ is effective for the treatment of the manic phase. Regarding the treatment of acute depression and maintenance of BD, the results of the studies indicate that there is not enough data demonstrating the effectiveness of CBZ.