Recommended tx adherence low in pediatric acute seizure
(HealthDay)—For pediatric patients transported for an acute seizure, adherence to recommended treatment is poor, according to a study published online Nov. 23 in Pediatrics.
Heather M. Siefkes, M.D., from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of children transported to a tertiary pediatric hospital for an acute seizure from 2010 to 2013. The authors evaluated seizure treatment for adherence to recommended management.
The researchers found that 61 percent of the 126 events did not receive recommended acute treatment. Administration of more than two benzodiazepine doses was the most common deviation from recommended care. Lack of adherence to recommended care correlated with increased risks of intubation (relative risk, 2.4) and admission to the intensive care unit (relative risk, 1.65). For patients who did or did not receive recommended acute seizure care, duration of ventilation was commonly <24 hours (87 percent). Only 32 percent of events treated initially with a benzodiazepine received a recommended weight-based dosage; underdosing was most common.
"Adherence to evidence-based recommended acute seizure treatment during initial care of pediatric patients using medical air transportation was poor," the authors write. "Intubation was more common when patients did not receive recommended acute seizure care."
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