Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Inclusion criteria for the study design were not specified. All of the included studies were retrospective studies.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of planned discontinuation of AEDs were eligible for inclusion. The time interval between surgery and the discontinuation of AEDs was reported in only two studies and ranged from 1 to 5 years. The comparators included partial withdrawal from AEDs and continued medication.
Participants included in the review
Studies of patients who had undergone resective surgery for epilepsy were eligible for inclusion. The age of the participants ranged from 3 months to 61 years, and most had undergone temporal lobe resections.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Studies that mentioned seizure outcome in the title or abstract were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome assessed in the review was seizure recurrence. The review also discussed the effects of reducing AED treatment and the effect of re-instituting AED treatment after seizure recurrence.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.