The History of Status Epilepticus

Seizures are defined as a “paroxysmal electrical discharge of the neurones in the brain resulting in a change of function or behaviour”. All of us involved in Emergency Care will encounter patients with seizures which can occur for a number of reasons, with Epilepsy affecting 1 in 100 people in the UK.

Being able to identify the cause, terminate ongoing seizures and provide ongoing investigation and care is complicated and of paramount importance, as some of these episodes carry with them a high morbidity and mortality rate.

In this episode of Roadside to Resus we run through the following;

• The scale of the problem
• Causes of seizures
• Definition of status epilepticus
• Different forms of seizures
• Clinical assessment
• Investigations
• Antiepileptic’s
• Management& guidelines; both Pre and In-hospital
• RSI for status epilepticus
• Follow up and guidance

As always we’d love to hear any thoughts or comments you have on the website and via twitter, and make sure you take a look at the references and guidelines linked below to draw your own conclusions.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James