Current practices in epilepsy monitoring units (EMU) in India

As an initial step to develop guidelines for epilepsy monitoring units (EMUs) appropriate for developing countries, we inquired the existing practices in EMUs in India.

After checking for the content and face validity as well for clarity, we sent a 52-item online non-anonymized questionnaire to all the 52 EMUs in India.

The questionnaire was completed by 51 of the 52 EMUs (98% response rate). The majority of the EMUs are located in major cities and 51% are located in non-governmental corporate hospitals. There are total of 122 prolonged video-EEG monitoring (PVEM) beds in India and 70% EMUs have ≤2 beds. Approximately two-thirds of the EMUs have defined protocols for pre-procedure consent and risk assessment, management of seizure clusters and status epilepticus, continuous observation of patients, and peri‑ictal testing. Only one-third of the EMUs have protocols for management of post-ictal psychosis, anti-suffocation pillows, and protected environment within bathrooms. The waiting period for PVEM is more (49.9 ± 101 vs. 4.9 ± 10.9 days; p = 0.04) and mean cost for 3-day PVEM is less (INR 8311 ± 9021 vs. 30,371 ± 17,563; p <0.0001) in public as compared to private hospitals. There was a negative correlation between cost of PVEM and the waiting period (r=-0.386; p = 0.01). Safety practices are similar in public and private hospitals.

Although practices in EMUs in India vary widely, they are comparable to those in developed countries. India has severe shortage of EMUs and long waiting lists for affordable PVEM.