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OBJECTIVES: The presenting literature review aims to evaluate the efficacy and reliability of corpus callosotomy (CC) as a palliative treatment in pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy. METHODS: Relevant studies were searched in the databases Pubmed, Scopus, and Lilacs. For such, the keywords "corpus callosotomy" AND "epilepsy" AND "pediatric" OR "child" were used. The following eligibility criteria were taken into consideration in the selection: descriptive studies published in English in the last 5 years; = 20 patients from 0 to 19 years old presenting refractory epilepsy who underwent total or partial CC; and a minimum of 6 months of post-operative follow-up. The procedure's efficacy and safety, in addition to improvement in quality of life, were evaluated. RESULTS: In general, the most used surgical approach was total CC and the majority of patients presented more than one type of epilepsy. The percentage of seizure-free patients after CC was significant in two studies (21,7% and 35%) and more than half attained a reduction of at least 50% in epileptic crises. In one study, crisis reduction had a mean of 90% and 72,7% of patients reported improved quality of life. The number of direct complications in two studies was =10% and deaths due to CC were rare. Neurological deficits were relatively common in one study, mostly transitory. Conclusion: Corpus callosotomy is an efficient palliative resource in the treatment of refractory epilepsy in pediatric patients. Furthermore, the number of direct complications and deaths are rare and neurological deficits are mostly temporary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]