Local Hospitals Taking Part In Study To Find Right Meds For Long-Lasting Seizures
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Several hospitals in the area plan to take part in an emergency room study to help determine which medication is best for patients with long-lasting seizures.
Doctors have three FDA approved medications available to treat patients with seizures not responding to a patient's regular medication, or for seizures lasting longer than five minutes.
Dr. Nina Gentile, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Temple University says doctors want to determine which drug works best:
"What we'll be looking for is how well did they do, did they develop complications, how long did they end up staying in the hospital, did they get better real quick or did they need to have more treatment or other procedures?"
She says there's an unusual twist:
"Patients will not be awake. They will not be able to provide consent and typically family members are either not available, or even if they are, the condition is such that it's not appropriate to discuss informed consent."
Dr. Gentile adds the hope is one medication will be shown to outperform the others, so treatment can be uniform from hospital to hospital.