Tag Archives: Convulsions

Should we treat electrographic seizures?

Posted on 6 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

In order to answer the question posed in the title you would need to take babies at risk of seizures, but not yet having clinically diagnosed convulsions, randomize them to have routine continuous EEG monitoring or not and then treat … Continue reading →

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Diuretics as Anticonvulsants?

Posted on 16 December 2020 by Keith Barrington

In recent years there has been a lot of interest in neonatal seizures and how to treat them. Older studies confirmed that phenobarbitone (or phenobarbital, I never know these days) appears effective, but with limits; many babies have a partial … Continue reading →

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Diagnosing seizures in the newborn: a small step forward

Posted on 31 August 2020 by Keith Barrington

The use of continuous EEG has become much more frequent in the NICU in recent years. It has become clear that clinical recognition of seizures, both those with and without clinical convulsions (which I will call electrographic seizures for all … Continue reading →

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Treating seizures in the newborn: phenobarbitone unexpectedly not so bad!

Posted on 28 May 2020 by Keith Barrington

Or perhaps “probably better than the current fashionable alternative” might be a better title. Phenobarbitone (or phenobarbital, I will call it PHE) is one of the oldest anticonvulsants out there, and because of little good data, remains the drug of … Continue reading →

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Who needs an EEG? part 2

Posted on 5 December 2018 by Keith Barrington

I realize that I didn’t answer the question in the title of the previous post. It could even seem that I think the EEG is not a very useful monitor, as many babies were inappropriately treated even when using an … Continue reading →

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Who needs an EEG?

Posted on 30 November 2018 by Keith Barrington

Clinical neurologic evaluation of our patients in the NICU is limited; a careful detailed neurologic exam can only reveal so much in newborns who can’t cooperate or communicate. Many of our patients need ancillary testing to reveal what is going … Continue reading →

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Seizures are bad for you

Posted on 4 June 2016 by Keith Barrington

Fox CK, et al. Neonatal seizures triple the risk of a remote seizure after perinatal ischemic stroke. Neurology. 2016. This analysis of a Kaiser Permanente database had 87 children with perinatal strokes. Those who had seizures during the neonatal period had … Continue reading →

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Treating seizures: bumetanide doesn’t seem to work

Posted on 29 September 2015 by Keith Barrington

One of the many frustrating things in neonatology is the treatment of convulsions. As Gerry Boylan and Ronit Pressler wrote in the introductory section of the excellent issue of Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine which was all about neonatal seizures, … Continue reading →

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