Convulsions are motor disorders and are manifested by pathological muscle contraction. They develop with various injuries and diseases of the nervous system, with severe intoxication or poisoning, can accompany metabolic disorders, and also occur with various forms of neuroses and endocrine pathologies.
In most cases, seizures have a paroxysmal nature and neurological etiology (occur on the background of brain pathologies).
They are tonic and clonic. The tonic type of seizures is characterized by the tension of muscle fibers for a long time. They are painless, although in some cases they may be accompanied by severe pain, especially cramps of the legs that occur against the background of ischemia of their muscles. Tonic seizures are also seen in myotonia and epilepsy.
Clonic convulsions - rapid muscle contraction. They occur at very short intervals and are observed with an infectious lesion of the brain, may be a manifestation of a hereditary lesion of the nervous system, occur during an epidemicencephalitis, as well as epilepsy after bouts of tonic convulsions.
It is also worth mentioning febrile convulsions, which often occur among children with high body temperature and may indicate disorders in the brain. Most often, this type of seizure occurs with viral infections, influenza, tonsillitis, bronchitis or pneumonia, when the body temperature is above 38 ° C, since this disrupts the blood supply to the head and metabolic disorders occur, which increases the readiness of the brain for convulsions. In this case, hereditary predisposition plays an important role.
Often, convulsions in a child occur on the very first day of a high temperature and are manifested by loss of consciousness, tension of the whole body, twitching of arms and legs. Some children may foam at the mouth or urinate spontaneously, although there are also cases where the clinical manifestations are erased.
It must be said that febrile convulsions occur only once and rarely recur during the day. However, they indicate a high risk of developing epilepsy.
What to do if your child has a febrile seizure?
• calm down and not try to hold back the convulsive movements;
• put the child on a flat surface, put a pillow under his head;
• turn your head to the side, which will help prevent tongue retraction and saliva from entering the respiratory system;
• do not try to open your mouth;
• Do not ventilate or massagehearts.
Febrile seizures disappear on their own after a few minutes. If the attack lasts more than 5 minutes, and breathing becomes difficult, you need to call an ambulance.
In order to prevent this pathology, when a child has a high temperature, antipyretic drugs, such as Paracetamol, should be given. If convulsions are prolonged or recur, the administration of the drugs "Diazepam", "Seduxen", "Relanium" is indicated. If there is a risk of seizures against the background of high temperature, prophylaxis is carried out by prescribing anticonvulsants.
