Seizure Prophylaxis in Aneurysm Repair

After a thorough review of the existing literature as well as a review of our own practice,
the investigators have concluded that the decision to treat patients undergoing aneurysm
repair with levetiracetam has reached true clinical equipoise. In other words, the
investigators cannot favor a decision to either administer or not administer this drug in
these patients based on the existing information. The utility of anti-epileptic prophlaxis in
the perioperative period for patients undergoing intracranial aneurysm repair remains a
common practice that is not supported by the current literature that includes retrospective
analyses as well as prospective trials for similar but not identical types of patients. The
investigators propose to settle this dilemma by performing a prospective randomized trial in
patients undergoing aneurysm repair in order to definitively determine if the common practice
of perioperative antiepileptic drug administration has any utility.