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Emergency Neurological Life Support: Status Epilepticus

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Abstract

Patients with prolonged or rapidly recurring convulsions lasting more than 5 min are in status epilepticus (SE) and require immediate resuscitation. Although there are relatively few randomized clinical trials, available evidence and experience suggest that early and aggressive treatment of SE improves patient outcomes, for which reason it was chosen as an Emergency Neurologic Life Support protocol. The current approach to the emergency treatment of SE emphasizes rapid initiation of adequate doses of first line therapy, as well as accelerated second line anticonvulsant drugs and induced coma when these fail, coupled with admission to a unit capable of neurologic critical care and electroencephalography monitoring. This protocol not only will focus on the initial treatment of SE but also review subsequent steps in the protocol once the patient is hospitalized.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurocritical Care and the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Jan Claassen

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Robert Silbergleit

  3. ENLS Course Co-Chair, Division of ED Critical Care, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Scott D. Weingart

  4. ENLS Course Co-Chair, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Wade S. Smith

Authors
  1. Jan Claassen
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  2. Robert Silbergleit
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  3. Scott D. Weingart
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  4. Wade S. Smith
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Correspondence to Jan Claassen.

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Claassen, J., Silbergleit, R., Weingart, S.D. et al. Emergency Neurological Life Support: Status Epilepticus. Neurocrit Care 17 (Suppl 1), 73–78 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-012-9758-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-012-9758-1

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