What medicine is used for epilepsy

The course of epilepsy is usually relatively long. Many patients will find that even if they take medication regularly to control it, they will still have occasional attacks. This is one of the more chronic diseases. The most important feature is that it will recur. Many patients may need to take medication for life, so you must pay attention to the type of medication you choose and avoid choosing drugs with greater side effects.

Epilepsy is a chronic brain disease caused by multiple causes, characterized by excessive discharge of brain neurons leading to repetitive, paroxysmal and transient central nervous system dysfunction.

Epilepsy occurs in people of all ages, regions, and races, but is more common in children and adolescents. In recent years, with the aging of my country's population, the incidence of cerebrovascular disease, dementia and neurodegenerative diseases has increased, and the incidence of epilepsy among the elderly has shown an upward trend.

Clonazepam: 1~4mg intravenous injection, but this drug has stronger depressant effects on the heart and respiration than diazepam.

Sodium valproate: Intravenous injection: 5-15 mg/kg push injection, one injection should be completed in 3-5 minutes. Can be repeated 2 times a day. It can also be maintained intravenously at 0.5~1.0m/(kg·h).

Amobarbital: 0.5~0.75g, dissolved in 10ml of water for injection and slowly injected intravenously. The injection speed should be controlled according to the patient's breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and seizure situation. If respiratory depression occurs, the medication should be stopped immediately. However, this drug is currently not available in China.

Midazolam: First give 0.1 mg/kg intravenous injection and then give 0.1 mg/(kg·h) continuous intravenous drip. If epileptic seizure recurs, add midazolam 0.1 mg/kg intravenous injection and increase the dose by 0.05 mg/(kg·h) until the convulsion is controlled. If the dosage reaches 0.6 mg/(kg·h) and epilepsy is not controlled, it is considered ineffective and the dosage will not be increased. If there is no epileptic seizure for 24 hours, the dosage should be gradually reduced by 0.05-0.1 mg/(kg·h) every 12 hours until it is discontinued. After intravenous injection, respiratory depression may occur in 15% of patients. Especially when used in combination with opioid analgesics, respiratory depression and arrest may occur, and some patients may die from hypoxic encephalopathy.

For a small number of patients who are still difficult to control, lidocaine or even general anesthesia can be used. After the seizure is basically under control, intermittent drug doses are given orally or by nasogastric feeding according to the patient's state of consciousness.

Repeated generalized tonic-clonic seizures can cause cerebral edema, which in turn can induce epileptic seizures. 20% mannitol can be injected intravenously to eliminate cerebral edema. Attention should also be paid to maintaining the patient's airway open to prevent hypoxia, and perform tracheotomy and artificial respiration if necessary. It is also necessary to maintain the function of the circulatory system and prevent and treat various complications, such as using antibiotics to treat secondary infections.