Summary

Emergency department management of epileptic seizures in children

Escribá de la Fuente A, Elorz Ibáñez AC, Fernández Santervás Y, Quintillá Martínez JM, Ortez González CI, Luaces Cubells C

Affiliation of the authors

Servicio de Urgencias de Pediatría, Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.

DOI

Quote

Escribá de la Fuente A, Elorz Ibáñez AC, Fernández Santervás Y, Quintillá Martínez JM, Ortez González CI, Luaces Cubells C. Emergency department management of epileptic seizures in children. Emergencias. 2013;25:116-8

Summary

Protocols for the emergency medical management of epileptic seizures are available.

However, for children with a diagnosis of epilepsy who recover their baseline

neurological status after one or more seizures, there is a lack of consensus on follow-up

care (eg, the need to order complementary tests or not, or where to refer the patient).

We reviewed the cases of 164 patients with epilepsy who came to the emergency

department with one or more seizures. The aim was to assess patient profile, the

ordering of additional tests and whether the tests proved useful for managing the case.

Sixty percent of the patients sought emergency care after a single seizure that resolved

before arrival at the hospital. Blood tests were done in 29.9% (all were normal) and

antiepileptic drug levels were measured in 22% (36.1% were too low). Although testing

for antiepileptic drug concentrations offers the highest diagnostic yield, this test is

subject to certain limitations that lead to reduced use.

 

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