Seizure‐Related Injuries in Multihandicapped Patients with Therapy‐Resistant Epilepsy

A prospective study on seizure‐related inju ries in Norway's two nursing homes for persons with ep ilepsy was conducted. Sixty‐two multihandicapped pa tients with mostly difficult‐to‐treat epilepsy were as sessed for 13 months: 6,889 seizures, 2,696 with ensuing falls, resulted in 80 injuries. The seizure‐related injury risk was 1.2%. The most frequent injuries were mild soft tissue injuries with and without cuts. Six serious injuries were recorded: two leg fractures, one mandibular fracture, one neck of the femur fracture, one skull fracture, and one subdural hematoma. A 71‐year‐old woman with subdural hematoma died during operation for the he matoma. Seizure types most often causing injury were atonic and tonic‐clonic seizures. Prophylactic measures can be taken. Because the seizure‐induced injury risk was slight, we concluded that even persons with refractory epilepsy should be encouraged to lead active lives.

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