Current evidence regarding the effectiveness of anticonvulsants in patients with tinnitus has significant risk of bias. There is no evidence from studies performed so far to show that anticonvulsants have a large positive effect in the treatment of tinnitus but a small effect (of doubtful clinical significance) has been demonstrated.
The value of flunarizine in the treatment of tinnitus.
The suppressive effect of flunarizine on tinnitus was assessed in a double-blind trial in 50 patients with tinnitus due to various causes. The duration of the study was 6 weeks. Serum levels of the drug were determined. The patient's subjective assessment of the effect was taken as criterion for the evaluation; objective tests were found to be unsuitable for this purpose. Ten of the patients suffered from dizziness as a secondary complaint. For the group as a whole, there was no difference between flunarizine and the placebo with respect to the effect on tinnitus, but in the 10 patients with dizziness as well there was a significant difference in favor of the drug. Conclusions cannot be drawn as to the reason for this divergence, because the number of patients was too small.