Convulsive syndrome is a very dangerous condition in children, and therefore it is very important to seek medical help on time. Every doctor should know how to eliminate the symptoms of this pathology. Under convulsions it is customary to understand involuntary muscle contraction, which manifests itself in the form of seizures, and they can last several seconds or even a day. Most often, seizures are a symptom of central nervous system damage and occur in about 3% of children.
The essence of convulsive syndrome in children
This disease is a nonspecific reaction of the body to the influence of internal and external factors, and in this case there are sharp attacks of muscle contractions.
In children, this syndrome is accompanied by the appearance of generalized or partial seizures, which can have a tonic or clonic character. Moreover, this condition can occur with loss or without loss of consciousness.
To establish the causes of this condition, consultation of a pediatrician, traumatologist, neurologist is required.
Causes of
Seizures in children can be caused by a variety of factors that can be divided into two large groups - epileptic and non-epileptic.
In addition to epilepsy, this condition can cause such conditions and diseases:
- Overheating.
- Toxoplasmosis.
- Spasmophilia.
- Infectious diseases of the brain - in particular, meningitis and encephalitis.
- Traumatic brain injury.
- Disturbance of metabolic processes - first of all it concerns calcium and potassium metabolism.
- Hormonal disorders.
- Congenital disorders of the nervous system, asphyxia, hemolytic disease - these conditions are the cause of the appearance of seizures in newborns.
- Acute infectious diseases that cause an increase in the child's body temperature to febrile indices.
- Intoxication of the body.
- Hereditary diseases associated with a metabolic disorder.
- Pathology of the circulatory system.
- Heart Dysfunction.
Concomitant diseases
In newborn children, such a syndrome can be accompanied by hypocalcemia, hypoglycemia, hemolytic disease.
Seizures often appear at the onset of acute infections, poisoning, metabolic diseases that are hereditary.
Seizures can accompany such diseases:
- pathologies of the central nervous system, which are of an innate nature;
- focal brain lesions - this can be an abscess or a tumor;
- dysfunction of the heart - these include congenital malformations, collapse;
- blood diseases - it can be leukemia, hemophilia, thrombocytopenic purpura, capillarotoxicosis.
How to remove spasm of cerebral vessels and how to prevent this disease read in the section.
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Symptoms of
This disease manifests itself in the form of tonic or clonic seizures. The first symptoms are characterized by the following symptoms:
- Prolonged contractions in a certain muscular group. Sometimes generalized seizures may occur.
- Pose, which is characterized by a head thrown back, arms bent and elongated legs.
- Loss or loss of contact with the environment.
- Slowing heart rate and respiration.
Clonic convulsions have a slightly different clinical picture:
- Rapid contractions of muscles that occur after a certain period of time.
- Seizures usually begin with the facial muscles, after which they are observed on all skeletal muscles.
- Rapid pulse, frequent and noisy breathing, sometimes wheezing.
- The appearance of foam on the lips, the pallor of the skin.
This syndrome usually consists of both components. This means that a tonic phase is first observed, which lasts no more than a minute. After that, it passes into the clonic phase, the duration of which has a significant effect on the prognosis of this disease.
Treatment of convulsive syndrome in children
For treatment, both medicament preparations and folk medicine are used.
Traditional methods of treatment
In order to provide first aid, children are most often prescribed the safest drug - long-acting benzodiazepine. It can be diazepam 0.5%, which is administered intravenously in an amount of 0.1-0.2 mg / kg or intramuscularly 0.3-0.5 mg / kg.
As a rule, the action of this substance lasts for one and a half to two hours.
If benzodiazepine does not have the desired effect, sodium oxybutyrate 20% is used as a supplement. The dosage is 50-150 mg / kg. This drug can also be administered intravenously or intramuscularly.
Barbiturates of short duration are sometimes used. In most cases, intravenously injected thiopental sodium. This medicine is used for the epileptic form of the disease.
To prolong the anticonvulsant effect, the listed preparations can be supplemented by the administration of fentanyl, droperidol, pipolfen, magnesium sulfate, aminazine, etc.
If persistent convulsions accompany respiratory depression, artificial ventilation should be prescribed in combination with non-depolarizing muscle relaxants having a moderate effect. These include norkuron, nymbex, traium.
The treatment of this syndrome in children is primarily determined by the causes that caused this condition:
- If febrile convulsions are observed, the use of antipyretic agents and physical methods of cooling is indicated.
- In the case of hypoglycemic seizures, an intravenous 20% glucose solution should be administered, but the blood sugar level should first be determined.
- If encephalitis or meningitis is observed, then after cramping the seizures, antimicrobial therapy should be started immediately.
As a rule, dehydration therapy - lasix 2 mg / kg is also used to treat this pathology. However, with certain convulsive conditions, the use of diuretics is strictly contraindicated.
Therefore, this method of treatment is used only if the cause of the convulsive syndrome is established.
Folk methods of treatment
These drugs are used in this case to calm the nervous system.
For this every day you need to take tinctures, cooked on the basis of oats of milk ripeness, skullcap and passionflower. All the ingredients must be taken in equal parts and poured with boiling water. Take a teaspoon six times a day.
If convulsions are caused by an increase in temperature, it is recommended to take products that have an antimicrobial effect:
- Garlic. Every four hours you can eat a chopped clove of garlic, mixed with a spoonful of honey.
- Tincture of echinacea. It is necessary to take 1 drop of this product for 1 kg of weight. Do this every four hours. As the temperature decreases, you need to gradually reduce the dosage.
- Rosehip fruits, crimson stems, alfalfa shoots. All these products are rich in vitamin C.
- Catnip. At a high temperature, an enema prepared on the basis of the infusion of feline mint is very helpful.
Meningioma of the brain is a dangerous disease that threatens life if you do not go to the doctor in time.
For early diagnosis, you can make the cerebral vessels mr. More information about this procedure is here.
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Cramping a convulsive syndrome in children
If a seizure occurs, put the child on a hard surface, turn the head to one side, then unbutton the collar and ensure airflow.
If the reasons for the development of this condition are unclear, you should immediately call an ambulance.
To ensure free breathing, remove the remains of food, mucus, and vomit from the oral cavity. If the cause of seizures is clear, it is necessary to conduct pathogenetic therapy, which consists in the introduction of:
- glucose solution - if hypoglycemia is observed;
- antipyretics - if there are febrile seizures;
- calcium gluconate solution - in case of hypocalcemia;
- solution of magnesium sulfate - in case of hypomagnesion.
Since it is difficult to conduct adequate diagnostics in the conditions of emergency aid, the symptoms of this pathology are managed by symptomatic measures. First-aid facilities include:
- diazepam;
- magnesium sulfate;
- hexenal;
- gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.
Individual anticonvulsants, in particular hexobarbital, diazepam, can be administered rectally to children. In addition to these drugs, you need to appoint funds that will help prevent cerebral edema.
In this case, dehydration therapy is used - it involves the use of drugs such as furosemide, mannitol.
Consequences of
If a child has febrile convulsions, it can be confidently asserted that with age, they will cease. In order to prevent their reappearance, one should not allow a significant increase in body temperature in the case of infectious diseases.
If after a cessation of the underlying disease convulsive syndrome persists, then we can make an assumption about the appearance of epilepsy. Unfortunately, such a threat is present in 2-10% of cases.
Prevention of
A preventive measure plays an important role in preventing the development of convulsive syndrome.
The main methods of prevention in this case include:
- prevention of congenital pathologies of the fetus;
- regular visit to all children's specialists;
- timely treatment of major diseases.
Only compliance with all these rules can protect your child from the development of this dangerous disease.
Convulsive syndrome in children is a serious enough pathology, which causes many anxieties and fears for parents. Therefore, if the child at least once had cramps, it is necessary to seek help from a doctor.
Only an expert will be able to establish the cause of the development of this pathology and select the necessary treatment.
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