Febrile Seizures and Spinal Taps

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

20 Jan 2009 12:05 PM

It is late at night and your baby wakes up with a high fever. While you are comforting your child and called the pediatrician, the baby goes into a seizure. What do you do? chances are that you rush your baby to the emergency room where it may be standard procedure to perform a spinal tap to rule out bacterial meningitis. But new research is showing that this painful procedure that requires sedation may not be the best choice for your baby. Read more to find out what the new information is all about.

Febrile seizures are very scary but usually harmless results of a high fever or a fever that comes on suddenly in a baby, generally one who is 18 months or younger.

As long as the baby is monitored and kept away from harm, the seizures themselves are usually uncomplicated and no cause for alarm. Of course, I am not a medical doctor, so you should always consult your pediatrician.

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Boston are reporting that the current recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics to perform a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) when a baby presents with febrile seizures may not be necessary. This is an important find, since spinal taps can be very painful. It is generally a safe procedure, though, without complications.

The study took a look at 704 babies that were seen in the emergency room for a simple first time febrile seizer. Out of these, 271 babies underwent a spinal tap. In every case, there was no diagnosis of bacterial meningitis, although 10 of the babies did have elevated white cell count.

Babies who are vaccinated against flu and pneumonia, according to Children's Hospital of Boston, have virtually no risk of developing bacterial meningitis in the first place, since the pathogens that cause those two illnesses are the major reasons for developing bacterial meningitis.

The researchers caution that spinal taps should still be considered for complicated seizures and clinical signs that indicate the possibility of the illness.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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Dale Harcombe (10373) 20 Jan 2009 12:24 PM

Oh, that is scary. Our daughter had a febrile convulsion when she was young.But they never did a spinal tap just montited her in hospital. It was the only time thankfully she ever had a febrile convulsion.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 20 Jan 2009 12:28 PM

I can imagine that is must be so scary to watch it happen! How long was she monitored?

Dale Harcombe (10373) 20 Jan 2009 01:20 PM

Overnight, I think. Hard to think back now. I mostly remember the fright of seeing her going rigid.

ruthann8 (6378) 20 Jan 2009 06:52 PM

A coworker's daughter has febrile seizures. At first it was weekly, then monthly, and now it has been several months since her last one. Her daughter will be 2 on the 25th. Any slight rise in temp brought them on. The first few episodes were scary for her, but she kind of got used to them. She had a hard time finding a sitter willing to take her daughter b/c of the seizures. Her baby never had to have a spinal tap but did spend many nights just being monitored in the hospital.

gina00 (680) 20 Jan 2009 11:37 PM

Febrile seizures are very scary! Our son has had them 5 times. We went to the Children's hospital the first two times. After the first one, they did a CT scan, and they also drew blood, etc, to rule anything out. The sheaths of the neurons in some children are not fully developed, so when there is a sudden rise in temperature, they are not able to regulate the body's temperature, thus causing a febrile seizure. With my son, a very strong, active boy, he was limp and unable to even hold up his head, etc for 30 min. or more after a seizure. They are also very sleepy afterwords, so it can worry you as a parent, thinking they might be in a coma, etc., when in fact, they are just exhausted from expending all that energy. His last one was about 8 months ago. Even when you know they are harmless, it is still really scary to watch.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 21 Jan 2009 11:05 AM

The lethargy has got to be an added bit of scary for parents! Thank you all for sharing your stories. I would love to hear more experiences.