Levetiracetam Versus Phenobarbital in Benzodiazepines Unresponsive Paediatric Prolonged Seizures

Convulsive prolonged seizures in children are the most common life-threatening neurological emergencies. The aim of active management of seizure control is to prevent irreversible neuronal damage as early as possible. Although there is evidence of the use of benzodiazepines as the initial management for prolonged seizures, up to a third of patients do not respond to benzodiazepines. Many trials study the rate of seizures control among various second-line antiseizure medications (ASMs) in benzodiazepines unresponsive convulsive prolonged seizures. However, there is still few recommendations for paediatric population which drug is the most effective to control seizures rapidly and there is also a limited data on which drug has less adverse effects and is well tolerated. Currently, injection phenobarbital or levetiracetam is used as second-line antiseizure medication based on expert opinion