informationfornurses

Hello nurses, try every best to enrich your medical knowledge and nursing skills.Here is an article related to epilepsy. Read and enlighten yourself.

We do have a time, when epilepsy or seizures are considered as disease in which associated with lot of social stigma and the resulting frustrations. Epilepsy occurs when there is abnormal electrical activity of brain. Unfortunately we can only control the disease not cure the disease and it is considered as group of syndromes rather than single disorder. Some of the them is life long and others confined to childhood only.

Primary reading epilepsy is the one in which epilepsy originates when patient reads something. While, Photosensitivity epilepsy occurs when there is flash of light. Interestingly, Catamenial epilepsy is the one in which associated with menstruation.

In Emergency we can make into a safe position, prevent self injury, keep away all the sharp objects and place soft thing under the head if you can, and don’t use more physical force and if it continues more time, then we should prevent him going to status epilepticus and some may go into sleep after a epilepsy or become confused, so we should reassure him and give comfortable position and observe him until he returns to normal.

Bromide is the first anticonvulsant used in the history and today there were 19 medication used to treat the epilepsy: they are
1. carbamazepine(tegretol)
2. clorezepate(transxene)
3. clonanzepam(klonopin)
4. ethozuximide(zarontin)
5. felbamate(felbatol)
6. fosphenytoin(cerebyx)
7. gabapentin(neurontin)
8. lamotrigine(lamictal)
9. levetiracetam(leppra)
10. oxacarbazepine(trileptal)
11. Phenobarbital(luminal)
12. topiramate(topamax)
13. phenytoin(dilantin)
14. valproate semi sodium(depakote)
15. tiagabine(gabitril)
16. pregabalin(lyrica)
17. primidone(mysoline)
18. valproic acid (depakene)
19. zonisamide(zonigran)

Other dugs which used are 1. Phenobarbital (Nembutal), 2. Diazepam (valium)3. Lorazepam (ativan)
Drugs used to RX the Status epilepticus are
1. Paraldehyde 2. Midazolam

Palliative surgeries are used to prevent the frequency and severity of the disease. They are 1. Callosotomy 2. Commisurotomy

One of the intractable epilepsy is temporal lobe epilepsy in which we do anterior temporal lobectomy or we do the remove the front portion of temporal lobe including the amygdale or hippocampus in which we call as Amygdalahippocampectomy.
Other methods use are deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation and avoidance therapy.

As nurses we could gain experience only if we were able to work in neurosurgery department. There we can see lot of these patients; we can learn how we could give holistic care to patients, supporting all our scientific principles.

See you guys with more interesting stuffs

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