Diazepam Autoinjector and new seizure tool
This is my 11th blog on knowing more about epilepsy. In the 10th blog we saw why exercise during Epilepsy (seizures): good idea.
In the early view issue of the journal Epilepsia, Drs. Abou-Khalil and a group of investigators present results of a double-blind randomized trial using a diazepam auto-
injector administered by caregivers to patients with epilepsy. Researchers randomly assigned 234 patients into different groups for this study. The subjects were stratified according to age, between 2 and 5 years, 6 and 11 years, and greater than 12 years with doses of 5, 10, 15 or 20 mg based on age and height. The primary measuring point was the time to next seizure or rescue from 15 minutes to 12 hours after one dose.
injector administered by caregivers to patients with epilepsy. Researchers randomly assigned 234 patients into different groups for this study. The subjects were stratified according to age, between 2 and 5 years, 6 and 11 years, and greater than 12 years with doses of 5, 10, 15 or 20 mg based on age and height. The primary measuring point was the time to next seizure or rescue from 15 minutes to 12 hours after one dose.
The study yielded the following results:
■Time to next seizure or rescue was longer in the diazepam group compared to placebo with a hazard ratio of 0.55.
■The 25th percentile for time to next seizure rescue was 1.18 hours for placebo and 2.7 hours for the diazepam group.
■The median was 5.9 hours for placebo and could not be estimated for diazepam due to the low number of events experienced by subjects in the group.
■The proportion of subjects using rescue medications post-dose was 30% in the placebo group vs. 17% for the diazepam group.
■A seizure occurred in 55.6% of patients in the placebo group and 35.4% in the diazepam group.
■The number of seizures experienced during the 12-hour post-dose period was significantly lower for diazepam.
■The most common treatment-related adverse events were injection site pain (15% for a placebo and 17% for diazepam) and injection-site bleeding (6% placebo and 5% diazepam).
The investigators concluded that the diazepam auto-injector was significantly more effective than placebo at delaying the next seizure or rescue.
New online based tool- My Seizures, Know More
Please try in testing the new “My Seizures, Know More” web-based tool. Explore the tool – it takes about 5 minutes. Then provide us with your valuable feedback by answering a few survey questions at the end of the tool – this only take about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You will not be asked to provide any identifiable information. No one will contact you about the study. This version of the tool will be available only for a limited time for this testing. The final version will be released in December.
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