Seizure Flashcards
What is a seizure?
An abnormal paroxysmal discharge of cerebral neurons due to cortical hyperexcitability
What can cause a fever?
Genetics
Head injury
Metabolic disturbances
- Sodium, calcium or magnesium disturbances
- Hypo or hyperglycaemia
- Renal or hepatic failure
- Hypoxia
Stroke or cerebrovascular disorders
Toxic causes
Infections
- Meningitis
- Encephalitis
- Cerebral malaria
Tumours and space-occupying lesions
What is epilepsy?
A recurrent seizure disorder caused by an abnormal electrical discharge from brain cells, often in the cerebral cortex
What are the types of seizures?
Partial, Generalised and Pseudo seizures
What are the subtypes of partial seizures?
Simple and complex partial and secondary generalised seizures
What happens to someone’s consciousness in a simple partial seizure?
What might happen to someone undergoing a simple partial seizure?
No change in consciousness
Might experience focal motor or somatosensory visual, auditory or autonomic sensations/hallucinations
Maybe twitching and tingling
What happens to someone’s consciousness in a complex partial seizure?
What might happen to someone undergoing a complex partial seizure?
An altered state of consciousness
- possibly a dream-like state
The person may experience automatism
- Lip smacking
- fidgeting
Also may experience visual/olfactory hallucinations
What are the subtypes of generalised seizures?
Tonic-clonic, Myoclonic, Absence, Tonic, Clonic and Atonic generalised seizures
What is a tonic-clonic seizure usually preceded by?
What usually happens to a person during a tonic-clonic seizure?
Tonic-clonic seizures are usually preceded by a yell/cry as the air is pushed out of their lungs by muscle contraction
Loss of consciousness and may include jerking, drooling, tongue biting, incontinence and eye fluttering
What is an absence seizure?
How long does it usually last?
A brief loss of consciousness and activity sometimes including eye fluttering
Cessation of activity can last between 5-10 seconds
What is an atonic seizure?
How fast is the recovery from an atonic seizure?
A sudden loss of postural tone (Drop attack), sometimes restricted to just the head
Short, sometimes immediate recovery
How can seizures be diagnosed/monitored/further investigated?
Blood tests
- Electrolyte imbalances
CT/Electroencephalograms
- Abnormal electrical activity
Video telemetry
MRI imaging to look for brain abnormalities
What are some treatments for seizures?
Anti-epileptic medications
Surgery (e.g. temporal lobectomy/obliteration)
What are the acute management strategies for a seizure?
Education and support
- Reassurance
- Safe environment for patients and staff
- Allow time to recover from seizure
First aid training for family
Follow up with neurology
Suction as required
Oxygen therapy
Observe seizure characteristics
Monitor vital signs
- Neuro observations
What is status epilepticus?
What are the risks associated with status epilepticus?
The active part of a tonic-clonic seizure lasting 5 minutes or longer, going into a second seizure without recovering consciousness from the first one, or having repeated seizures for 30 mins or longer
There is a risk of brain hypoxia/damage/death. Airway, breathing and circulation need protecting urgently.
