Seizure-related injuries in northeast Thailand.

OBJECTIVE

The authors aimed to assess the frequency, characteristics, and risk of seizure-related injuries from traffic accidents, near-drowning, burns, fractures, head and soft tissue injuries.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Attending physicians assisted 300 consecutive seizure patients to complete a questionnaire. The types and frequency of injuries were then expressed in terms of the type of seizure and related activity.

RESULTS

The male (154) and female (146) patients were between 13 and 91 years of age (mean, 36.27 +/- 14.55). The seizure types comprised of Generalized Tonic-Clonic (GTC) (26%), secondary GTCs (21%) and complex partials (19%). Secondary causes accounted for 34% of seizures, and post-stroke was the most common (25.5%). The total number of seizure events per year was 8,525 and of these 7,306 included a fall with soft tissue injury (70%), head injury (22%), near-drowning (3%), burns (3%) and fracture or dislocation (1%). The ranking of significant risk factors for injuries was: 1) GTC seizure; 2) seizure with a fall; and, 3) number of seizures.

CONCLUSION

Seizure-related injuries are common among Thai epileptic patients; thus, consistent treatment and education about the risk of injury would protect patients.