[Descriptive statistical analysis of the treatment of status epilepticus in a referral hospital]

Status epilepticus is defined as either recurring seizures without regaining consciousness between them or one single seizure lasting more than 30 minutes.

To perform a descriptive analysis of the most relevant data on the patients with status epilepticus who were admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and to review the risk factors associated to status epilepticus with a poor prognosis.

A study was conducted of the main variables of the patients with status epilepticus hospitalised in the PICU of a tertiary hospital over a period of six years.

Data were collected on a total of 68 patients (55.9% males), the mean age being 3.7 years. The most frequent signs and symptoms were generalised tonic-clonic seizures (50%). The mean duration of the status epilepticus was 51.44 minutes. The mean number of antiepileptic drugs used to stem the seizures was 3.21 and the mean number of drugs used prior to admission to the PICU was 2.37. The most commonly used first choice drug was diazepam (83.8%) administered rectally (75%), followed by intravenous diazepam (52.9%) in second place and phenytoin was the most frequently used drug as the third choice. The most usual cause of status epilepticus was having previously suffered from epilepsy (33.9%), and Dravet's syndrome was the most frequent epileptic causation.

Treatment of status epilepticus is complex and requires multidisciplinary and personalised management. Protocols and clinical guidelines need to be drawn up and reviewed to achieve an adequate management of these patients.