What to do in case of seizures?

Since seizures are associated with severe symptoms, they are often highly threatening. They are not that rare in children: around four per cent experience such an attack once during childhood. And you don’t have to think of epilepsy immediately. Most often, it is a so-called occasional seizure-like febrile seizure that occurs only once.

Not necessarily epilepsy

In epilepsy, the seizures occur repeatedly; however, it is rarer overall: around 0.8 per cent of the population is affected. Often, no direct cause can be found; partly, a hereditary predisposition is the trigger. In these cases, epilepsy often occurs in childhood and adolescence. In addition, brain damage of various origins can be the reason for the disease, for example, congenital disabilities, infections of the central nervous system, craniocerebral injuries, metabolic disorders, circulatory disorders of the brain or brain tumours.

 

What is a seizure?

Seizures occur when the brain’s regular electrical activity builds up another (but abnormal) activity. This usually happens suddenly and without warning. Sometimes, a seizure can also be triggered by external stimuli, such as the flickering of a television or computer. The sudden electrical discharge of nerve cells in the brain triggers muscle spasms, which lead to the typical picture of a seizure.

What does a typical seizure look like?

• In sudden unconsciousness, the body becomes stiff, arms and legs are stretched, and the back muscles may be overstretched (tonic phase).
• Rhythmic muscular discharges in the arms and legs, for example, twitching, slackening of the extremities (clonic phase)
• Eye rolling, dilation of the pupils, foaming at the mouth
• wetting or defecating
• Changes in breathing (pauses in breathing, wheezing, bluish discolouration of the skin due to lack of oxygen)
• “night sleep” or “exhaustion sleep”. After that, there is usually no memory of the seizure; the child is sleepy and dizzy.
•  Seizures can be atypical in infants and young children. A sudden relaxation of the muscles and eye-rolling then manifest the seizure. The child has a fixed gaze, and there may be pauses in breathing (the skin turns greyish-bluish due to the lack of oxygen). Or there are short-term behavioural problems. The child seems absent and is not responsive.

 

First Aid Measures

• Calm down the child.
• Protect him from injuries that he can get from uncontrolled movements, and remove tight clothing.
• Don’t try to limit the twitching movements or hold the child. In doing so, you can injure it.
• There is a risk that the child will bite his tongue . Do not push any objects between the teeth, as this can lead to tooth breakage.
• If the cramps no longer occur, Place the child in the stable side position (children under two in the prone position).
• Call an ambulance
• Continue to monitor breathing to begin rescue breaths if necessary.

Important: After a seizure, the child should be examined thoroughly to rule out a brain disease as the cause. By telling the doctor exactly how long and what type of seizure you are having, you can help with diagnosis and treatment.

What to do with febrile seizures?

Febrile seizures are almost always harmless. They are triggered by a sudden and rapid increase in fever, are accompanied by convulsions and usually only last a few minutes. Babies and small children (up to around four) are affected. About 35 per cent of children who have once had a febrile seizure will have it again if they have another febrile infection. For this reason, antipyretics are given to such children at an early age.

If it occurs repeatedly, seizure-stopping medication should also be available at home. By the third time, at the latest, the doctor will clarify whether the seizure is the first sign of epilepsy.