DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2018.v06i04.004

Pages: 323-329

A randomized control trial was undertaken for children of 2-12 years of age, suffering from seizures, generalized tonic-clonic, partial or in the form of status epilepticus to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IV phenytoin and IV valproate, as a second line agent after an intravenous injection of benzodiazepine. Children with simple febrile convulsion were excluded from the study. Clinical and socio-demographic parameters for the study were recorded on a predesigned proforma. Relevant investigation in the form of blood parameters, CSF study and neuroimaging were done accordingly. Data were entered into Microsoft excel datasheet and analyzed with SPSS-17.0 and medcalc- 12.7.3. There were no significant differences in the efficacy of phenytoin and valproate in controlling seizure from various etiologies like CNS infections, seizure disorder, intracranial granuloma etc. But, in cases of type of seizure like in status epilepticus and focal seizure with or without secondary generalization phenytoin is controlling more number of seizures than valproate. On the contrary, valproate controlled more number of generalized seizures than phenytoin. But there is no significant statistical difference between the two. Further studies in a larger population have to be done to identify its statistical significance.