Objective: Our study aims to analyze the efficacy and safety of Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Background: Oral Levodopa is considered to be one of the most effective and accessible therapies for PD, but chronic treatment is related to development of dyskinesias and motor fluctuations. These symptoms result from the short half-life of this medicine and irregular gastric emptying. In this sphere, LCIG is an option for the treatment of advanced PD.
Method: This study is a literature review, which includes systematic reviews, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials and meta-analysis, published on the PUBMED platform in the last 10 years, originally in English. The search strategy used was the formula (levodopa carbidopa intestinal gel) AND (parkinson), involving only studies conducted in humans.
Results: The search resulted in 30 unique articles, which 18 were selected. All studies demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of advanced PD with LCIG. This therapy reduces off-time and increases on-time without increasing dyskinesias. The administration of LCIG allows a better quality of life for patients as it reduces the time of motor symptoms, in addition to improving sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. In a randomized clinical trial with 192 patients, all patients had improvement in PD, with 87.5% reporting no adverse effects, and the most common effect was abdominal pain (30.7%).Furthermore, it was possible to observe nausea and wound infection, symptoms related to the percutaneous gastrojejunostomy tube insertion.
Conclusion: The use of LCIG is a safe and effective alternative for advanced PD since this technique significantly decreases motor complications. There was no high rate of unacceptable side effects but vigilance is essential to avoid serious complications. Therefore, the references used proved to be acceptable and confluent for the same outcome, the improvement in quality of life for patients with PD.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
E. Londero, A P. Dos Santos, R. Braga, R. de Barros, L. Dos Reis, G. Freire. Efficacy and safety of Levodopa-Carbidopa Intestinal Gel in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2021; 36 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/efficacy-and-safety-of-levodopa-carbidopa-intestinal-gel-in-the-treatment-of-parkinsons-disease/. Accessed May 18, 2025.« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2021
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/efficacy-and-safety-of-levodopa-carbidopa-intestinal-gel-in-the-treatment-of-parkinsons-disease/