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Epilepsy and Intellectual Disabilities pp 101–114Cite as

Management of Acute Seizures in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

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Abstract

The acute management of seizures in people with intellectual disability (ID) comprises at least seven different situations: the first seizure, subsequent seizures/seizure exacerbations in established epilepsy, loss of skills related to frequent daytime seizures, nonconvulsive status epilepticus, loss of skills related to nocturnal seizures, electrical status epilepticus of slow wave sleep, and treatment of (convulsive) status epilepticus. These situations will be discussed in turn. Because epilepsy is not only more common in people with ID but also more difficult to treat, the emergency treatment of epilepsy is of particular importance in this group (Pellock and Morton, Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res 6:309–323, 2000). Furthermore, people with ID are sometimes prescribed other medication that may lower the seizure threshold, increasing the risk of seizures and the need for training in their acute management. Loss of skills as a result of the epilepsy is a serious matter in any patient group but can be avoided or prevented in many cases. In people with limited intellectual ability, additional loss of skills can be of major importance, emphasising the need for a good understanding of the principles of effective epilepsy management.

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Acknowledgements

The author is very grateful to Tom Hawking for his exceptional help with the administrative aspects of this work, and to Professor Fenella Kirkham for providing valuable recent information relating to the treatment of status epilepticus in children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. East London NHS Foundation Trust, Bedford, UK

    F. M. C. Besag MD, PhD

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  1. F. M. C. Besag MD, PhD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. NHS Trust, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Vee P. Prasher

  2. Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

    Mike Kerr

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Besag, F.M.C. (2016). Management of Acute Seizures in Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. In: Prasher, V., Kerr, M. (eds) Epilepsy and Intellectual Disabilities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39144-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39144-1_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39142-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39144-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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