Phenytoin: Clinical Applications and Treatment Strategies

Course overview

Phenytoin indications, clinical use, and the potential for toxicity have been well-reviewed in the literature. Phenytoin is often used in combination with other types of anticonvulsant medication and classes of medications, such as benzodiazepines, for varied clinical conditions. The drug is commonly regarded as an antiepileptic agent; however, it has been used for other conditions, as well as as a prophylactic agent in neurosurgical patients, to avoid epileptic conditions. The research on phenytoin indication, use, and potential adverse outcomes focuses on the necessary balance of clinical observation and indication, laboratory data trending serum drug levels, and pharmacological guidelines guiding drug combinations and cross titrations/tapers in certain epileptic conditions to achieve medical stability.