title: A computerized standard protocol order entry for pediatric inpatient acute seizure emergencies reduces time to treatment.
abstract: Time to treatment of seizures is critical to efficacy. We performed a quality initiative and evaluated time to treatment of inpatient seizure emergencies with first- and second-line medicines before and after implementation of a computerized, standard treatment protocol. Data from 125 patients revealed that 179 seizure episodes required first-line antiepileptic drugs, and the mean time to treatment was 7.72 minutes. In 87 episodes, patients (49%) received the drugs within 5 minutes. Forty-six episodes required second-line drugs. In 17 (37%), patients received them within 30 minutes (mean 49.48 minutes). After implementation of the protocol, the mean time to treatment with first-line drugs was 3.74 minutes, a reduction of >50% (P < .0001). The mean time to treatment with second-line drugs was 25.05 minutes, a reduction of ∼50% (P < .0001). This effective model for reducing the time to treatment of seizure emergencies may be useful to similar institutions.
authors: 1University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Xie
authors: Robin
authors: R
authors: Morgan
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Schiff
authors: Debbie
authors: D
authors: Hannah
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Wheless
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004360:Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009462:Neurology / Q000592:standards; D012640:Seizures / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000188:drug therapy; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: antiepileptic drugs; computerized physician order entry; emergency; neuroscience ward; protocol; seizure; status epilepticus