What are the symptoms and management methods of convulsions?
Dec 26, 2024
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Lv Zhiqin
Introduction
Convulsions typically present with symptoms such as frothing at the mouth, dilated pupils, difficulty breathing, limb convulsions, and loss of consciousness. Common management approaches include preventing injury, maintaining airway patency, seeking emergency medical care, medication treatment, and surgical treatment. During the treatment process, it is generally recommended to ensure good ventilation in the environment, reduce light and sound stimulation, allow the patient adequate rest, and avoid staying up late and emotional excitement.
Convulsions typically present symptoms such as frothing at the mouth, dilated pupils, difficulty breathing, limb convulsions, and loss of consciousness. Common management approaches include preventing injury, maintaining airway patency, seeking emergency medical care, medication treatment, and surgical treatment. If any abnormalities occur, prompt medical attention is recommended. Detailed analysis is as follows:
I. Symptoms
1. Frothing at the mouth: During severe limb convulsions, patients may drool or foam from the mouth due to difficulty swallowing.
2. Dilated pupils: During convulsions, the patient's pupils may become dilated with a weakened reaction to light, which is one manifestation of abnormal cerebral neural activity.
3. Difficulty breathing: During a convulsion, the patient may experience apnea or difficulty breathing due to the impact of the seizure on the function of the respiratory center.
4. Limb convulsions: The patient's limbs or other body parts may experience intense, involuntary twitching or stiffness. This occurs because erroneous signals from the brain affect muscle control.
5. Loss of consciousness: During a convulsion, the patient may lose consciousness due to abnormal neuronal discharges in the brain interfering with normal consciousness. This unconscious state may last from several seconds to a few minutes.
II. Management approaches
1. Preventing injury: During convulsions, patients may bite their lips or tongue or experience dislocations or fractures due to convulsions. Therefore, clean wooden blocks, cloth strips, or similar items should be placed in the patient's mouth to prevent biting injuries, and forcefully pulling the patient's limbs should be avoided.
2. Maintaining airway patency: During a convulsion, the patient should immediately be placed in a lateral recumbent or supine position with the head turned to one side, and the collar should be loosened to maintain airway patency and prevent aspiration of vomitus or secretions leading to suffocation.
3. Emergency medical care: In most cases, convulsions last only a short time, such as 1-3 minutes. However, if convulsions last more than 5 minutes, or the patient experiences loss of consciousness lasting more than 10 minutes, or sustains injuries during the episode, emergency medical services should be contacted immediately and the patient transported to the hospital emergency department.
4. Medication treatment: To treat and alleviate convulsion symptoms, medications such as gabapentin tablets, carbamazepine tablets, and oxcarbazepine tablets may be used under a doctor's guidance.
5. Surgical treatment: If convulsions are caused by conditions such as brain abscess or brain tumor, surgical treatment is generally required to alleviate symptoms.
During treatment, it is generally recommended to maintain a well-ventilated environment, reduce light and sound stimulation, ensure the patient gets sufficient rest, and avoid staying up late or experiencing excessive emotional excitement.
