Clinical features and prognostic factors for status epilepticus in the pediatric emergency department: A retrospective study
Abstract Background: Uncontrolled seizures cause damage to all organs, especially the brain. Although there are guidelines regarding the management of status epilepticus (SE) involving motor seizures, the timing for administering first-line rescue medications (RMeds) remains unclear. Therefore, we analyzed patients with persistent SE lasting for >30 min and who visited the pediatric emergency department (pED) to determine clinical features and risk factors and provide directions for management on arrival to the pED. Methods: This study was conducted by retrospectively reviewing medical charts of patients aged 0–19 years who were diagnosed with SE accompanying motor seizures and who visited the pED between January 2010 and December 2019. After pED arrival, patients were divided into two groups, namely ≥30 min (n = 12) and <30 min (n = 13), according to the additional seizure time and receipt of the first dose of RMeds before and after 5 min.Results: Seizures lasting for <30 min were mainly observed for the etiology of idiopathic SE in the pED. Among four SE patients who needed intensive care unit (ICU) management, three had delayed administration of RMeds of more than 5 min, which was statistically significant because more hospitalizations in the ICU were observed when RMed administration was delayed. (p = 0.047). In acute symptomatic SE such as encephalitis, more than three doses of RMeds were needed to stop seizures.Conclusions: Patients with convulsive status epilepticus should receive RMeds after arrival at the pED.