Anticonvulsants for Children
Seizures of various origins in children occur six times more often than in adults. They can be the result of dehydration, imbalance of fluid and minerals, a critical deficiency of potassium and magnesium, hypothermia, poisoning, intoxication, epilepsy, pinching of the nerve in the canal, and so on. Seizures require immediate intervention, especially if they occur in babies of the first two years of life, because if the spasms are not eliminated in time, this is fraught with serious damage to the central nervous system of the baby, brain swelling. Anticonvulsants come to the rescue.
Anticonvulsants for children are prescribed in combination with other medicines (anti-inflammatory, analgesics, antiviral, sedatives) after identifying the cause of the seizures.
To do this, the doctor will carefully examine the full picture of the disease, take into account at what time of day seizures seizures occur most often with the child, how often they occur, what provokes them. Treatment usually takes place in the hospital under the constant supervision of doctors.
Therapy with anticonvulsant drugs will also require a lot of additional research - ECG, MRI, etc.
How to act?
Anticonvulsant drugs act on the central nervous system, suppressing it, due to this it is possible to stop convulsive spasms. However, some representatives of anticonvulsants have an additional effect - they inhibit the respiratory center, and this can be very dangerous for children, especially small ones. Barbiturates and magnesium sulfate are considered to be such breath-inhibiting drugs against convulsions.
Benzodiazepines, droperidol with fentanyl, lidocaine are considered to be drugs that slightly affect the breathing of a child.
With the help of relatively benign benzodiazepines ("Sibazon", "Seduxen"), you can cope with convulsions of any origin. They prevent the spread of nerve impulses in the brain and spinal cord.
Fentanyl droperidol is often used to treat children.
When administered intravenously, lidocaine stops any convulsions by acting at the cellular level - ions begin to more easily penetrate the cell membrane.
Among the barbiturates, the most famous are Phenobarbital, Hexenal. "Phenobarbital" acts for a long time, but the effect of its reception is not achieved immediately, but when relieving seizures it is precisely time that sometimes plays a decisive role. Moreover, with age, the effect of the drug is achieved faster. In babies up to a year, it occurs only 5 hours after ingestion, and in children older than two years, it is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract “Phenobarbital” twice as fast.
Hexenal is not prescribed for children, as it has a very strong effect on the respiratory system, suppressing it like anesthetic drugs.
Magnesium sulfate in pediatrics is also used infrequently, mainly in the elimination of seizures associated with cerebral edema, magnesium imbalance.
The most important factor in the treatment of seizures in children is to determine the optimal dose of the drug. It is calculated strictly individually, experts try to begin treatment with small doses, gradually increasing them as needed.
The hardest thing to answer is the question of how long a course of treatment with anticonvulsant drugs lasts.There is no single standard, because the child needs to take them either until full recovery, or for the rest of their lives, if the convulsions are associated with severe hereditary pathologies.
Classification
According to the method of exposure and the active substance, all anti-convulsants are divided into several groups:
- Iminostilbene Anticonvulsant drugs with excellent analgesic effect and anti-depressant effect. Enhance mood, eliminate muscle spasms.
- Valproates Anticonvulsants, which have the ability to relax the muscles, while providing a sedative effect. They also raise the mood and normalize the psychological state of the patient.
- Barbiturates. They relieve convulsions perfectly, at the same time they lower pressure and have a rather pronounced hypnotic Effect.
- Succinimides. These are anticonvulsant medications that are indispensable in cases when it is tedious to eliminate spasms in individual organs, with neuralgia.
- Benzodiazepines. With the help of these medications suppress long convulsive seizures, drugs are prescribed for epilepsy.
Children's anti-cramp drugs are required to meet several important criteria. They should not have an overwhelming effect on the psyche, should not be addictive and addictive, while the drugs must be hypoallergenic.
Parents have neither moral nor legal right to choose such serious preparations for children on their own. All anticonvulsants in Russian pharmacies are sold only upon presentation of a prescription, which the doctor prescribes after determining the causes of convulsive states.
List of anticonvulsant drugs for children
Carbamazepine. This antiepileptic drug from the category of aminostybens has a lot of advantages. It reduces pain in those who suffer from neuralgia. Reduces the frequency of attacks in epilepsy, after several days of taking the drug, there is a decrease in anxiety, a decrease in aggressiveness in adolescents and children. The medicine is absorbed slowly enough, but it acts fully and for a long time. The tool is available in tablets. "Carbamazepine" is prescribed to children from 3 years.
Zeptol. Antiepileptic drug type iminostilbenov improves mood by suppressing the production of norepinephrine and dopamine, anesthetizes. The drug is prescribed for epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia. Available in the form of tablets. Children can be given medication from the age of three.
"Valparin". Anticonvulsant medication vaproatov group. The tool does not inhibit respiration, does not affect blood pressure, has a moderate sedative effect. "Valparin" is prescribed for the treatment of epilepsy, with convulsions associated with organic brain lesions, with febrile convulsions (convulsions at high temperatures in children from birth to 6 years).
The drug is not recommended for children under three years of age. Children are prescribed in pills, and babies, whose body weight is less than 20 kilograms, in intravenous injections or droppers.
"Apilepsin". This anti-convulsant drug is prescribed not only in the treatment of epilepsy, but also in children’s tics, as well as in febrile convulsions in children. The drug is available in the form of drops for oral administration, tablets, dry matter for intravenous injections and droppers, as well as in the form of syrup. Children up to 3 years old can take medicine in syrup. From the age of 3, the rest of the drug is allowed
«Konvuleks». The anticonvulsant drug of the vapoprop group has a mild sedative effect and the ability to relax muscles. The drug allows you to cope with a wide range of seizures of various origins from epileptic to febrile. In addition, "Konvuleks" prescribed to children who have observed bipolar disorder. Forms of release are different - from dry matter for the subsequent preparation of injections to capsules and tablets. The so-called “childish” forms of the medicine are oral drops and syrup. Capsules and pills are contraindicated in children under 3 years. They can be given only liquid forms of "Konvuleks."
"Phenobarbital". This anticonvulsant drug belongs to the category of barbiturates. It inhibits certain areas of the cerebral cortex, including the respiratory center. It has a hypnotic effect. The drug is prescribed to the child in the treatment of epilepsy, severe sleep disorders, with spastic paralysis, and in a number of seizures not associated with manifestations of epilepsy. Available in tablets. May be assigned to children from birth.
Clonazepam. The brightest representative of the benzodiazepine group. Approved for use in children of any age for epilepsy, nodding convulsions, atonic seizures. Available in tablets and in solution for intravenous administration.
Sibazon - tranquilizer with anticonvulsant effect. May lower blood pressure. It is used for muscle cramps of various origins. Available in tablets and solution for intravenous injection. It is used to relieve epileptic seizures and febrile seizures in children from the age of one.
In addition, Antilepsin, Iktoril, Rivotril, Pufemid, Ronton, Emental and Sereysky Mixture are effective against childhood convulsions.
What not to do?
If the child has convulsions, do not try to find out the cause of their occurrence. Call an ambulance, and while you wait for the doctors, watch the baby carefully - what kind of cramps do he have, how big is the pain syndrome, pay attention to the duration of the convulsive spasms. All this information will be useful later for specialists to establish the correct diagnosis.
You should not give your child any anticonvulsants. Also, do not give your baby water and food, because their particles can get into the respiratory tract and cause suffocation.
Do not try to get a tongue from a child. This is a common misconception. The baby will not swallow the tongue, but it is possible to suffocate from the fact that he gets into the airways fragments of teeth injured when trying to open his jaw.
Do not keep the child in a state of convulsions in one fixed position. This can cause serious injury to the joints, sprains, and muscle breaks.
Famous pediatrician Komarovsky tells in detail about convulsions:
Tips for parents from the doctor of the Union of Pediatricians of Russia:
