Sublingual lorazepam at home for acute treatment of seizures

Title

Sublingual lorazepam at home for acute treatment of seizures

Creator

Wassmer E; Allen A; Bjelajac A; Weiss S

Publisher

Archives Of Disease In Childhood

Date

2003

Subject

Home Nursing; Epilepsy; Seizures; Administration; Oral; home care services; Sublingual; Benzodiazepinones; Chlorobenzenes; Convulsions; Lorazepam

Description

eizures are often initially treated at home. The standard treatment is rectal diazepam. Sublingual (SL) lorazepam is easy to administer but has not been well evaluated for efficacy in epilepsy. It has been reported to be effective for serial seizures in 10 children.1 Aim: To study the efficacy of SL lorazepam for seizures in children at home. Method: After informed consent 18 children were enrolled in the study. The parents were instructed to use SL Lorazepam for seizures lasting at least 5 minutes. After each administration, the parents completed a standardised questionnaire. The outcomes were time from lorazepam administration to seizure cessation and the occurrence of any adverse events. Results: 18 children received SL lorazepam to treat 49 seizures. 26 were prolonged and 23 serial seizures. Lorazepam was given after a median of 5 minutes (range 1–60). 39 seizures stopped after a median of 6 minutes (range 1–75). Seizures recurred in 17 children after a median of 8 hours (range 1–16). 34 of 49 administrations were followed by sleep and 4 by rapid breathing or snoring. No apneas were reported. 16 children visited the emergency department of which 13 were admitted. All parents thought lorazepam was easy to administer. Conclusion: SL lorazepam is effective in the treatment of prolonged and serial seizures at home. Larger prospective studies are needed. SL lorazepam may be a promising alternative treatment to rectal diazepam.
2003

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Wassmer E; Allen A; Bjelajac A; Weiss S, “Sublingual lorazepam at home for acute treatment of seizures,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/12617.