Nonpharmacological approaches: diet and neurostimulation

There are many children with intractable epilepsy who do not respond to anticonvulsant medications yet are not candidates for resective epilepsy surgery. For these children and more, nonpharmacologic therapies can be very helpful. The primary therapies include diet and neurostimulation. Dietary therapies available currently include the ketogenic diet, modified Atkins diet, medium chain triglyceride diet, and low glycemic index treatment. Neurostimulation, using electricity to abort seizures, includes vagus nerve stimulation only at this time. However, other treatments such as deep brain stimulation and cortical responsive stimulation (NeuroPace) are under active development.