Pediatric status epilepticus

Abstract

Status epilepticus (SE) is defined as prolonged seizures that last more than 5 minutes. Early intervention is encouraged as SE is a life threatening event with high mortality and morbidity. SE is the most common pediatric neurological emergency. Evaluation of children with SE is aimed to rapidly determine the etiology of the status which could result in effective interventions. The management of the child with SE could be at the pre hospital setting, emergency room, ward (high care) or/and intensive care (anesthetic) depending on response to interventions, caregivers’ awareness and available facilities. There is strong evidence to support administration of benzodiazepines as the first line intervention for seizure control. Interventions for second and third agents are more controversial with recent studies finding no benefit over phenytoin compared to levetiracetam and limited data for the role of phenobarbital.