[Treatment of neonatal convulsions]

Three important measures are concommitantly recommended in the treatment of neonatal seizures. 1) The maintenance of vital functions by supplying oxygen and using mask ventilation in addition to cardiac monitoring and placing an intravenous line. 2) The search for an etiology through metabolic and infectious laboratory tests. In many cases this will lead to an etiological treatment. 3) The specific treatment of the seizures: intravenous or intrarectal diazepam is the first line treatment. Phenobarbital, then phenytoin and clonazepam are used when diazepam is unsuccessful. Indications and duration of a secondary prophylactic treatment are controversial and must be discussed on the basis of the electroencephalographic data and the risk factors for epileptic seizures during the neonatal period and at 3 months of age.