Seizures: emergency medication and outcomes in Sturge-Weber Syndrome.
Published September 2013
Download the full evidence summary PDF: WTE Emergency medication Sturge-Weber
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What were we asked?
A parent asked whether there is any evidence for:
How long after seizure onset (i.e. 5, 10, 30 minutes) it is best to use emergency medication (buccal midazolam or rectal diazepam) when treating a child with Sturge-Weber syndrome who is having a seizure, to reduce the likelihood of entering prolonged or repeated seizures or status epilepticus?
Whether delaying treatment with emergency medication after seizure onset in children, or being unable to stop seizure activity, increases the risk of learning disability?
Key findings
NICE guidance is that emergency medication should be administered after five minutes of prolonged seizure activity to try and prevent children entering status epilepticus.
Children who have frequent episodes of seizures may have individually tailored guidelines which should be followed when they have a seizure.
The long-term effect of prolonged seizures on learning disability is not clear.