Podcast 643: Convulsions with Gastroenteritis

<p><strong>Contributor:  Jared Scott, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Differential Diagnosis: non-accidental trauma, febrile seizure, meningitis, hyponatremia, epilepsy</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Convulsions with gastroenteritis is a known entity to cause seizures in infancy</span></li> <li style="list-style: none; display: inline"> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Predominantly occurs in ages 6 months to 3 years</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Occur with diarrheal episodes</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">No electrolyte abnormalities associated with the seizure nor severe dehydration</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Seizures tend to come in clusters</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Most have a normal EEG and do not develop epilepsy</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Reported incidence in gastroenteritis of 1-2% of gastroenteritis</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Treatment addresses the seizures but long term anti-epileptic drugs are typically not needed</span></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt;">Kang B, Kwon YS. Benign convulsion with mild gastroenteritis. Korean J Pediatr. 2014;57(7):304-309. doi:10.3345/kjp.2014.57.7.304</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt;">Ma X, Luan S, Zhao Y, Lv X, Zhang R. Clinical characteristics and follow-up of benign convulsions with mild gastroenteritis among children. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(2):e14082. doi:10.1097/MD.00000000