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KEY POINTS
Seizures are a relatively common occurrence in the intensive care unit (ICU), but may be difficult to recognize.
Seizures that persist longer than 5 minutes should be treated to prevent progression to status epilepticus (SE).
Three major factors determine outcome in SE: type of seizure, cause, and duration.
Electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring to titrate therapy should be implemented in seizing patients who do not awaken promptly after institution of antiepileptics, even if tonic-clonic motor activity resolves.
Lorazepam is a preferred agent for initial treatment, followed by consideration of additional agents for long-term management or to “break” SE.
Patients with refractory SE require intubation, mechanical ventilation, and aggressive treatment with antiepileptics titrated to the EEG.
The underlying cause of the seizure disorder must be sought in tandem with treatment of the seizure disorder itself.
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Seizures are a relatively common occurrence in the ICU, complicating the course of about 3% of adult ICU patients admitted for nonneurologic conditions.1 Status epilepticus (SE) may be the primary indication for admission, or it may occur in any ICU patient during a critical illness. Seizures are second to encephalopathy as a cause of neurological complications (28.1%).1 A seizure may be the first indication of a central nervous system (CNS) complication or the result of overwhelming systemic disease. Seizures in the setting of critical illness are often difficult to recognize and require a complex diagnostic and management strategy. Delay in recognition and treatment of seizures is associated with increased mortality2; thus, the rapid diagnosis of this disorder is mandatory. Conventionally, status epilepticus is referred to as a protracted seizure episode lasting 30 minutes or longer or multiple seizures without return to baseline consciousness between seizures. However, more recently, revised definitions have suggested to consider seizures lasting for 5 minutes or longer as SE,3–5 and newer guidelines define SE as 5 minutes or more of either continuous clinical and/or electrographic seizure activity, or recurrent seizure activity without recovery between seizures.6
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While most seizures will terminate spontaneously within a few minutes,5 only half of seizure episodes lasting 10 to 29 minutes will stop spontaneously7 and aggressive treatment should be administered to prevent ongoing SE.8 SE is not a single process, and can be subdivided into convulsive and nonconvulsive SE (NCSE); NCSE can be seen in comatose patients and in ambulatory awake patients. Additionally, patients in the ICU could have acute repetitive seizures or EEG patterns that fall on an ictal-interictal continuum. Management should be customized to the underlying type and etiology of SE.9
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EPIDEMIOLOGY AND OUTCOME
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Limited data are available on the epidemiology of seizures in the ICU. A 10-year retrospective study of all ICU patients with seizures at the Mayo Clinic revealed that seven patients had seizures per 1000 ICU admissions.8 Our 2-year prospective study of ...