Status epilepticus

Current Care Summary
The working group established by the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, the Finnish Paediatric Neurology Society and the Finnish Neurological
30.5.2016

Current Care Guideline «Epileptinen kohtaus (pitkittynyt; status epilepticus)»1 and Summary «Epileptinen kohtaus (pitkittynyt; status epilepticus)»2 in Finnish

Status epilepticus is a medical emergency. Most epileptic seizures last for 1−4 minutes. Seizures lasting over five minutes should be treated as status epilepticus. EEG is essential for diagnostics. The treatment can be divided into first-aid medications, such as buccal/intranasal midazolam or rectal diazepam, first-line medications such as intravenous diazepam or lorazepam, and second-line medications such as fosphenytoin, levetiracetam, valproate and lacosamide, and in addition phenobarbital for children. Third-line treatment is suppressive general anaesthesia, monitored by continuous EEG. Antiepileptic medication of patients with epilepsy should be carefully re-evaluated after status epilepticus.

Reetta Kälviäinen (Chair)

Stepani Bendel

Henna Jonsson

Tapani Keränen

Jouni Kurola

Tapani Salmi

Arja Tuunainen