title: Generalized tonic-clonic seizure after a taser shot to the head.
abstract: During a police chase on foot, a previously well police officer was hit mistakenly by a taser shot meant for the suspect. The taser gun had been fired once, sending 2 barbed darts into his upper back and occiput. Within seconds, the officer collapsed and experienced a generalized tonic-clonic seizure with loss of consciousness and postictal confusion. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging scans of the head and electroencephalograms were normal. The patient has experienced no recurrence of seizure over more than a year of follow-up. This report shows that a taser shot to the head may result in a brain-specific complication such as generalized tonic-clonic seizure. It also suggests that seizure should be considered an adverse event related to taser use.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Krembil Neuroscience Centre, University Health Network, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
authors.forename: Esther T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Myra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sourkes
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wennberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D003221:Confusion / Q000209:etiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology*; D014474:Unconsciousness / Q000209:etiology