Provision of Sedation and Treatment of Seizures During Neonatal Therapeutic Hypothermia.

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) produces a high rate of long-term neurodevelopmental disability in survivors. Therapeutic hypothermia dramatically improves the incidence of intact survival, but does not eliminate adverse outcomes. The ideal provision of sedation and treatment of seizures during therapeutic hypothermia represent therapeutic targets requiring optimization in practice. Physiologic stress from therapeutic hypothermia may obviate some of the benefits of this therapy. Morphine is commonly utilized to provide comfort, despite limited empiric evidence supporting safety and efficacy. Dexmedetomidine represents an interesting alternative, with preclinical data suggesting direct efficacy against shivering during induced hypothermia and neuroprotection in the setting of HIE. Pharmacokinetic properties must be considered when utilizing either agent, with safety dependent on conservative dosing and careful monitoring. HIE is the leading cause of neonatal seizures. Traditional therapies, including phenobarbital, fosphenytoin, and benzodiazepines, control seizures in the vast majority of neonates. Concerns about the acute and long-term effects of these agents have led to the exploration of alternative anticonvulsants, including levetiracetam. Unfortunately, levetiracetam is inferior to phenobarbital as first-line therapy for neonatal seizures. Considering both the benefits and risks of traditional anticonvulsant agents, treatment should be limited to the shortest duration indicated, with maintenance therapy reserved for neonates at high risk for recurrent seizures.

An Integrative Review of School-Based Mental Health Interventions and Implications for Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures.

Millions of students with mental health concerns attend school each day. It is unknown how many of those students experience psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES); however, quality of life, academic, and mental health outcomes for students experiencing PNES can be bleak. Currently, no authors have addressed potential school nurse interventions for students with PNES. Because PNES is a mental health condition and is often influenced by underlying anxiety and/or depression, an integrative review of school nurse interventions and outcomes for students with general mental health concerns was conducted. An integrative review resulted in the identification of 13 quantitative and 2 qualitative studies that met inclusion criteria. The findings from this review suggest school nurses, following principles from the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice, play an active role in mental health interventions and should be involved in replicating and testing known mental health interventions to investigate their effectiveness for students with PNES.

Interrater Agreement Between Critical Care Providers for Background Classification and Seizure Detection After Implementation of Amplitude-Integrated Electroencephalography in Neonates, Infants, and Children.

PURPOSES: Amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) has been widely developed in neonatal intensive care unit, but few studies focused on pediatric intensive care unit. Furthermore, reliability of aEEG under real-life conditions is unknown. METHODS: Participants were nurses from a 12-bed pediatric intensive care unit in a referral university hospital in France. Amplitude EEG was implemented after standardized training, including e-learning course, individual feedback and bedside teaching concerning monitoring installation, background classification patterns recognition, artefact analysis, and seizure detection. The primary judgment criterion was the agreement (Cohen Kappa) between nurses and aEEG experts for the detection of abnormal aEEG traces (moderately or severely altered background pattern according to Hellström-Westas classification and/or seizure activity). RESULTS: During the study period, 196 consecutives traces from 79 patients were analyzed by 51 nurses. According to expert's classification, 53% of traces were abnormal, including 17.5% of severely abnormal traces (severely altered traces and/or seizure activity) and 14% exhibiting seizure activity. Moderate agreement between experts and nurses was found for detection of any abnormal trace (k = 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39-0.67). Substantial agreement was found for severely altered traces (k = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.57-0.85). Finally, fair agreement was found for seizure detection (irrespective of background classification, k = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.25-0.54). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that aEEG monitoring may be implemented in routine nursing care in pediatric intensive care unit. Further training courses are needed to enhance nurses' skill in detecting seizures activity at the bedside.

The effect of simulation-based education on childhood epileptic seizure management knowledge, skills, and attitudes of nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Lack of knowledge about epileptic seizure management and negative attitudes toward children with epilepsy among nursing students may negatively affect the quality of healthcare services they deliver. AIM: This study aimed to examine the effect of training given to nursing students using simulation and standard child mannequins on their childhood epileptic seizure management knowledge, skills, and attitudes. METHODS: Participants (n = 72) were recruited from a Nursing Faculty in Izmir, Turkey. Students were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups (n = 36 in each). The intervention group received simulation-based training on epilepsy while the control group received standard child mannequin training on epilepsy. One week after the training, the students were asked to demonstrate their epileptic seizure management knowledge and skills on a simulation model or a standard child mannequin. During this process, they were observed and assessed by two independent observers on the basis of a list of epileptic seizure management skills. All participants completed the personal information form, the Epilepsy and Epileptic Seizure Management Knowledge Test, and the Epilepsy Knowledge and Attitude Scale before, and after the training, McNemar's test, repeated measure ANOVA (intravenous), dependent t-test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis, and Pearson's chi-square test were used to compare the groups. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate the consistency between observers. RESULTS: The epilepsy knowledge scale mean scores of both groups significantly increased after their respective trainings (p < 0.001), but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.829). There was no statistically significant difference between the pre- and posttraining epilepsy attitude scale mean scores of the control group (p = 0.630), however, a statistically significant increase was observed in the epilepsy attitude scale mean score of the intervention group (p = 0.008). In addition, both groups' self-confidence in epileptic seizure management significantly increased after the training (p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Simulation-based training was beneficial for students insofar as it helped them to develop positive attitudes toward epilepsy.

Electroencephalographic Patterns During Common Nursing Interventions in Neurointensive Care: A Descriptive Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Many patients with neurological insults requiring neurointensive care have an increased risk of acute symptomatic seizures. Various nursing interventions performed when caring for these patients may elicit pathological cerebral electrical activity including seizures and stimulus-induced rhythmic, periodic, or ictal discharges (SIRPIDs). The aim was to explore changes in electroencephalogram (EEG) due to neurointensive care nursing interventions. METHODS: A convenience sample was recruited between November 2015 and April 2016, consisting of 12 adult patients with impaired consciousness due to a neurosurgical condition. Continuous EEG and simultaneous video recordings of nursing interventions were collected 48 continuous hours for each patient. Two analysts categorized the video recordings for common nursing interventions, and a neurophysiologist analyzed the EEGs. RESULTS: In total, 976 nursing interventions were observed. Epileptiform activity was observed in 4 patients (33%), during 1 nursing intervention episode each (0.4%). The 4 observed episodes of epileptiform activity occurred during multiple simultaneous nursing interventions (n = 3) and hygienic interventions (n = 1). Stimulus-induced rhythmic, periodic, or ictal discharges were observed in 1 patient (8%), in 1 single nursing intervention (0.1%). The observed SIRPIDs occurred during repositioning of the patient. All patients had muscle artifacts, during 353 nursing interventions (36.3%). The duration of nursing interventions was longer for those with simultaneous muscle artifacts (median, 116 seconds) than those without muscle artifacts, epileptiform activity, or SIRPIDs (median, 89.0 seconds). With regard to epileptiform activity and SIRPIDs, the median durations of the nursing interventions were 1158 and 289 seconds, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this pilot study indicate that muscle artifacts seem prevalent during nursing interventions and may be a sign of stress. Nurses should be aware of the risk of inducing stress by performing regular nursing interventions in daily practice, consider shorter or fewer interventions at a time in sensitive patients, and administer sedation accordingly. Considering that this was a pilot study, more research that investigates correlations between EEG patterns and nursing interventions in larger samples is needed.

Recognition and nursing management of reflex anoxic seizures in children.

Reflex anoxic seizures (RAS) present with a transient loss of consciousness and are triggered by an unexpected stimuli. These are paroxysmal, short-lived episodes of pronounced bradycardia or transient asystole; the episodes are self-limiting, lasting between 15 seconds and 1 minute. RAS are an important differential diagnosis of transient loss of consciousness but they are commonly misdiagnosed as epileptic events. An accurate and focused history is key to the diagnosis. They are mostly managed by performing an ECG to rule out other causes of arrhythmia, with subsequent explanation of the condition and reassurance given to parents. Nurses play an important role in eliciting the history and providing support to parents following the diagnosis. This article addresses the epidemiology and pathophysiology of RAS, with suggestions for management. An illustrative case study is included to highlight some of the challenges that health professionals working in different clinical set-ups are likely to come across while managing a child with RAS.

[Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome in the elderly patient]. / Le syndrome de sevrage aux benzodiazépines chez le sujet âgé.

Withdrawal syndrome is a well known diagnostic entity. As the symptomatology related to this syndrome is extremely unspecific, care must be taken not to ignore withdrawal syndrome, the consequences of which, while rare, can lead to often long and complicated hospitalisations.

Nursing and Focal Dyscognitive Seizures: A Clinical Update When Managing Risk Using Advanced Nursing Skills.

Focal seizures are divided into simple and dyscognitive, with the latter resulting in the alteration of consciousness. In the ictal and postictal stages, patients may present with confusion, delirium, and psychosis, presenting a risk of safety to themselves and others. This article presents 3 case studies where patients have been admitted for visual and electroencephalographic monitoring. Seizure activity is provoked for the diagnosis and development of a management plan. These cases illustrate the unique nursing implications when caring for patients experiencing focal dyscognitive seizures, highlighting the unique circumstances for the neuroscience nurse regarding risk management, safe administration of radioactive isotopes, detection of subtle seizure manifestation, and use of family as experts in patient-centered care. Through a deliberate onset of seizures, neuroscience nurses are placed in nontypical nursing situations, thus managing risk in unpredictable conditions and displaying advanced and distinctive nursing skills.

Nursing management of reflex anoxic seizures in children.

Children who present with transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC) are often first seen in emergency departments (EDs). Reflex anoxic seizure (RAS), vasovagal syncope and prolonged respiratory apnoea are benign, syncopal events that can be generally managed by explanation and reassurance. RAS is a short, paroxysmal, self-reverting episode of asystole that is triggered by pain, fear or anxiety and is caused by increased vagal response. It is an important differential diagnosis in pre-school age children who present with T-LOC, but is often underdiagnosed and can sometimes be misdiagnosed as epilepsy. Nurses working in EDs are among the first healthcare professionals to see children in acute settings and should therefore be aware of RAS, the presenting features and management options. This article discusses the epidemiology, pathophysiology and management of RAS, includes an illustrative case study and discusses the role of ED nurses.

Impact of periictal nurse interventions on postictal generalized EEG suppression in generalized convulsive seizures.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine the impact of periictal nurse interventions on postictal generalized EEG suppression (PGES) in generalized convulsive seizures (GCS). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the video-EEG recordings of patients during long-term video-EEG monitoring. We compared the duration of seizures, seizure phases (tonic, clonic, and tonic-clonic phases), and the occurrence and duration of postictal generalized EEG suppression (PGES) in patients with and without periictal interventions (e.g., oxygen administration, suctioning, and repositioning). Statistical analyses were performed to determine the association between the seizure-related variables and the periictal interventions. RESULTS: A total of 109 patients with 150 GCS were included in the study. Periictal interventions were provided in 122 GCS, of which, ictal administration of oxygen was provided in 29 GCS. The duration of PGES was significantly shortened in GCS with interventions when compared with those without interventions (p=0.003). However, the ictal administration of oxygen, assessed as an independent variable, did not influence the occurrence or duration of PGES. CONCLUSION: Periictal interventions significantly shortened the duration of PGES, and may, as a consequence, reduce the risk of SUDEP. However, ictal administration of oxygen did not influence the occurrence or duration of PGES.

Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis in Children and Adolescents.

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune disease that is becoming increasingly recognized in the pediatric population. It may be the most common cause of treatable autoimmune encephalitis. The majority of cases of anti-NMDAR encephalitis are idiopathic in etiology, but a significant minority can be attributed to a paraneoplastic origin. Children with anti-NMDAR encephalitis initially present with a prodrome of neuropsychiatric symptoms, often with orofacial dyskinesias followed by progressively worsening seizures, agitation, and spasticity, which may result in severe neurologic deficits and even death. Definitive diagnosis requires detection of NMDAR antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid. Optimal outcomes are associated with prompt removal of the tumor in paraneoplastic cases, as well as aggressive immunosuppressive therapy. Early detection is essential for increasing the chances for a good outcome. Close follow-up is required to screen for relapse and later onset tumor presentation. The nurse practitioner plays a major role in the research, screening, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and rehabilitation of a child or adolescent with anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

Implementation of an evidence-based seizure algorithm in intellectual disability nursing: A pilot study.

Based on the results of the Surrogate Decision-Making Self Efficacy Scale (Lopez, 2009a), this study sought to determine whether nurses working in the field of intellectual disability (ID) experience increased confidence when they implemented the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (AANN) Seizure Algorithm during telephone triage. The results of the study indicated using the AANN Seizure Algorithm increased self-confidence for many of the nurses in guiding care decisions during telephone triage. The treatment effect was statistically significant -3.169(p < 0.01) for a small sample of study participants. This increase in confidence is clinically essential for two reasons. Many individuals with ID and epilepsy reside within community-based settings. ID nurses provide seizure guidance to this population living in community-based settings via telephone triage. Evidenced-based training tools provide a valuable mechanism by guiding nurses via best practices. Nurses may need to be formally trained for seizure management due to high epilepsy rates in this population.

Increasing Epilepsy Awareness in Schools: A Seizure Smart Schools Project.

A high prevalence of epilepsy diagnoses and seizure events among students was identified at a large Midwestern school district. In partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota (EFMN), a quality improvement project was conducted to provide education and resources to staff caring for school children with seizures. School nurses (N = 26) were trained as seizure management educators and instructed staff in 21 schools on seizure awareness and response. School nurses utilized new seizure management resources, a procedural guideline, and care plan updates. The majority of school nurses rated the resources and training interventions as "very helpful." School nurse confidence in managing students with seizures increased, seizure action plan use increased, and 88% of children's records with new seizure diagnoses had completed documentation. School nurses played vital roles in increasing seizure awareness as educators and care managers. EFMN is using this project as an exemplar for expanding its Seizure Smart Schools program.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in the older adult.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, as a functional neurological symptom disorder. This disorder is often misdiagnosed as epilepsy, with the consequence that older adults may have been treated for years for epilepsy before they learn their seizures are non-epileptic. Video electroencephalography monitoring, which is the standardized approach for ruling out epilepsy, is often performed in a specialized epilepsy monitoring unit where the patient lies in bed 24 hours per day waiting for a seizure to be recorded. The immobility, loss of independence, and anxiety that occurs during the monitoring process can be difficult for older adults. It is important for all nurses to be aware of PNES and to be sensitive to the unique needs of older adults who are experiencing these seizures.

Effects of undernourishment, recurrent seizures and enriched environment during early life in hippocampal morphology.

It has been recently shown that enriched environment led to a significant benefit in learning and retention of visual-spatial memory, being able to reverse the cognitive impairment generated by undernourishment and recurrent seizures. We investigated the hippocampal morphological effects of recurrent seizures and undernourishment early in life in Wistar rats and the possible benefits produced by the enriched environment in these conditions. The morphological parameters stereologically evaluated were hippocampal volume, thickness of pyramidal stratum of the CA1 subfield and neuronal and glial densities in the same subfield. Male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups including nourished, nourished+enriched environment, nourished+recurrent seizures, nourished+recurrent seizures+enriched environment, undernourished, undernourished+enriched environment, undernourished+recurrent seizures and undernourished+recurrent seizures+enriched environment. Undernourishment model consisted in nutritional deprivation regimen from post-natal day 2 (P2) to P15. From P8 to P10, recurrent seizures group were induced by flurothyl three times per day. Enriched environment groups were exposed between P21 and P51. Our main findings were: (1) animals submitted to the enriched environment showed an increased hippocampal volume; (2) enriched environment promotes increases in the thickness of the pyramidal layer in hippocampal CA1 subfield in animals nourished and undernourished with recurrent seizures; (3) undernourishment during early development decreased neuronal density in CA1 and CA3 subfields. Our findings show that these three conditions induces important changes in hippocampal morphology, the most deleterious changes are induced by undernourishment and recurrent seizures, while more beneficial morphological changes are produced by enriched environment.

To provoke or not provoke: ethical considerations in the epilepsy monitoring unit.

Epilepsy is the second most common neurological disorder after migraines and headaches, with an economic burden of 15.5 billion dollars annually. Most patients with epilepsy can be controlled with antiepileptic drugs. Those who remain uncontrolled are considered refractory and are often admitted to an epilepsy monitoring unit for definitive diagnosis. Nonepileptic seizures are a common differential diagnosis in persons with refractory seizures. It is helpful for providers to witness the patients' seizures to make a definitive diagnosis for seizure classification. Frequently, unstandardized practice-provocation techniques are employed in an epilepsy monitoring unit setting. The purpose of these techniques is to elicit a seizure. A debate is occurring on whether the use of provocation techniques is ethical and necessary. This article will review the literature related to the current evidence and moral opinions swirling around this topic. It is important for the neuroscience nurse to be familiar with both sides of the seizure provocation debate as he or she will be on the front lines of shaping future policy and practice to come.