Abstract
Objective
To compare the effectiveness of intermittent clobazam versus diazepam therapy in preventing the recurrence of febrile seizures and assess adverse effects of each drug.
Methods
This prospective randomized controlled trial was performed on neurologically normal children aged from 6 months to 5 years with a history of simple febrile seizures and normal electroencephalogram without any evidence of acute central nervous system infection. The patients were randomly prescribed with oral clobazam (37 cases) or diazepam (35 cases) when they developed a febrile disease. They were advised to use the medications during the first 48 h of the onset of fever. All the patients were monitored regarding developing seizure and adverse effects of the drugs. All patients were followed for 12 months.
Results
Overall, 243 episodes of fever occurred during the period, including 116 episodes in the clobazam group and 127 episodes in the diazepam group. Recurrence of seizures occurred in 2 (1.7%) subjects in the clobazam group, and in 4(3.1%) cases in the diazepam group. (P value = 0.474). Twenty cases (54%) in the diazepam group and 5 (14.2%) cases in the clobazam group developed drowsiness and sedation during the follow-up period (P value = 0.0001).
Conclusions
Intermittent clobazam therapy seems advantageous to diazepam due to similar efficacy but significantly lower adverse effects such as drowsiness and sedation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Johnston MV. Seizures in childhood. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson’s textbook of pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2007. p. 2457–8.
Sankar R. Paroxysmal disorders. In: Menkes JH, Sarnat HB, Maria BL, eds. Child neurology. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006. p. 919–22.
Karande S. Febrile seizures: a review for family physicians. Indian J Med Sci. 2007;61:161–72.
Shinnar S. Febrile seizures. In: Swaiman KF, Ashwal S, Ferriero DM, eds. Pediatric neurology principles & practice. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby; 2006. p. 1079–82.
Fenichel CM. Clinical Pediatric Neurology: A signs and symptoms Approach. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2001. p. 18–9.
Gupta S. Febrile seizures. An overview and use of clobazam as intermittent therapy. Pediatr Today. 2002;7:244–9.
Rose W, Kirubakaranc C, Scott JX. Intermittent clobazam therapy in febrile seizures. Indian J Pediatr. 2005;72:31–3.
Pavlidou E, Tzitiridou M, Panteliadis C. Effectiveness of intermittent diazepam prophylaxis in febrile seizures: long-term prospective controlled study. J Child Neurol. 2006;21:1036–40.
Verrotti A, Latini G, Dicorcia GD, et al. Intermittent oral diazepam prophylaxis in febrile convulsions: its effectiveness for febrile seizure recurrence. Eur J Pediatr Neurol. 2004;8:131–4.
Akman CI. Febrile seizures: the role of intermittent prophylaxis. J Pediatr Neurol. 2005;3:1–3.
Bajaj AS, Bajaj BK, Vinod P, Girish T. Intermittent clobazam in febrile seizures; an Indian experience. J Pediatr Neurol. 2005;3:19–23.
Gulati S, Saini D, Pandey RM, Kalra V. Randomized controlled trial to compare efficacy of oral clobazam with oral diazepam for praphylaxis of febrile seizures. Neuropediatrics. 2006;37:13.
Manreza MLG, Gherpelli JLD, Machado HLR, Pedreire CCC, Diament A, Heise CO. Treatment of Febrile seizures with intermittent clobazam. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2007;55:757–61.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khosroshahi, N., Faramarzi, F., Salamati, P. et al. Diazepam Versus Clobazam for Intermittent Prophylaxis of Febrile Seizures. Indian J Pediatr 78, 38–40 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-010-0220-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-010-0220-0