TITLE:
Seizures in Children under Five in a Pediatric Ward: Prevalence, Associated Factors and Outcomes
AUTHORS:
Abdoul Karim Doumbia, Oumou Koné, Guédiouma Dembélé, Adama Dembelé, Oumar Coulibaly, Hawa Gouro Diall, Karamoko Sacko, Amadou Touré, Pierre Togo, Abdoul Aziz Diakité, Mohamed Elmouloud Cissé, Belco Maiga, Djeneba Konaté, Fatoumata Léonie Diakité, Lala N’drainy Sidibe, Fousseyni Traoré, Adama Bah, Djibril Kassogue, Boubacar Togo, Madou Traoré
KEYWORDS:
Convulsions, Child, Infant, Prognosis, Sub-Saharan Africa
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.11 No.4,
November
17,
2021
ABSTRACT: Introduction: convulsion is a frequent
cause of neurological and cognitive sequelae and then of epilepsy. The
objective of this work was to describe the socio-demographic, clinical,
therapeutic, and evolutionary aspects. Methodology: This was a
descriptive retrospective study carried out in the general pediatrics
department of CHU-Gabriel Touré. It took place over a period of 02 years from
January 2017 to December 2018. We included all children aged 1 to 59 months
hospitalized in the ward for convulsion. Results: During the study
period, 2653 children aged 2 months to 59 months were hospitalized in the
general pediatric ward. We included 288 medical records of children who
presented with a seizure on admission. Convulsions represented 11% of pediatric
hospitalizations from 1 month to 59 months. The average age was 29 months.
Fever was present in 86% of patients. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) test was
positive in 38 patients. Hypoglycemia was present in 14 patients. Serum calcium
was low in 3 patients. The most implicated etiologies were malaria 70%,
meningitis 20%, and dehydration 13%. Management consisted of airway clearance,
oxygen therapy as needed, and administration of diazepam (54%). Antibiotics
were prescribed in 77% of cases and antimalarials in 70%. The average length of
hospital stay was 8 days with extremes of 1 and 30 days. The outcome was
favorable in 95% of cases. Sequelae were observed in 5% of cases and one case
of death was observed. Conclusion: Acute convulsions are one of the most
common causes of hospitalization in children under 5 years old. The causes were
dominated by infectious diseases (malaria, meningitis). The appropriate course
of action was the administration of diazepam rectally.