Treatment
Immediate Seizure Treatment
You can not stop a seizure, but you can help the patient prevent serious injury.
First, it is extremely important to remain calm and not panic. Then take the following actions:
- Wipe away any excess saliva to prevent obstruction of the airway. Do not put anything in the patient's mouth. It is an old wives' tale that people having seizures will swallow their tongues.
- Turn the victim gently on the side. Do not try to hold the patient down to prevent shaking.
- Rest the patient's head on something flat and soft to protect it from banging on the floor and to support the neck.
- Move sharp objects out of the way to prevent injury.
Text Continues Below
Do not leave the seizure victim alone. Anyone nearby should call 911. Patients should be taken to an emergency room if:
- Any seizure lasts beyond two or three minutes.
- The patient has been injured.
- The patient is pregnant.
- The patient is diabetic.
- Parents, caregivers, or bystanders are at all uncertain.
Children with seizures caused by fever rarely require any treatment other than taking precautions to prevent obstruction and reduce the fever. Research on adult patients has found that only 5.7% of adults with epilepsy who refused to go to the hospital following a seizure had a subsequent seizure during the study's three-day follow-up period. Hospitalization, then, may not be necessary in many patients whose seizure is not severe or repetitive, and who have no risk factors for complications. All patients or caregivers, however, should contact their doctor after a seizure occurs.
Drugs Used for Managing Acute Repetitive Seizures
.gif)
