Children are afraid of cramps when they have a fever, and cramps are afraid of damaging their brains.
Because of the fear of febrile convulsion, many parents are full of fear of fever, so that when their children have a fever, they will do everything possible to reduce their fever, take antipyretic drugs, ice bags and ice heads, and stick antipyretic stickers…
Are these worries necessary? Is this useful? Parents need to know what about fever and cramps?
Is febrile convulsion what?
[Febrile convulsion] refers to convulsion caused by fever, which was previously thought to be caused by high fever, so it is called febrile convulsion.
In fact, convulsions may occur as long as the body temperature is higher than 38 ℃, not only in the state of high fever, so it is now called “febrile convulsions”. Convulsions are mostly seen in the stage of rising body temperature, and about 4 out of every 100 children will encounter febrile convulsions.
Some parents may ask, why do other people’s children not smoke when they have a fever, and my children smoke?
The cause of febrile convulsion is still not so clear, more clear is related to genetic constitution. If the immediate family members have a history of febrile convulsion, the higher the risk of children. In addition, febrile convulsion mainly occurs in children between 6 months and 5 years old, which may be related to the fact that the child is still in an age group of immature nerve development.
Febrile convulsion, don’t pinch people!
When a child has febrile convulsion, the correct approach is:
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Let the child lie down and rest: Let the child lie down on the bed or safely on the flat ground, untie the collar, and let the child lie on his head or side to prevent aspiration, choking cough and suffocation during vomiting.
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Don’t put anything or give medicine into the child’s mouth: forcibly breaking the child’s mouth may cause damage, cramps generally don’t bite the tongue, even if the bite will grow quickly.
The stuffing may also block the respiratory tract, cause suffocation and damage teeth. On the contrary, if there is something in the child’s mouth during convulsions, it should be gently removed if possible.
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Don’t pinch people: Hold down the child, pinch people can’t stop convulsions, but may cause damage to the child.
When children have fever and convulsion, they are often stiff all over, limbs twitch, eyes turn white, consciousness is unclear, and even foaming at the mouth is incontinent.
However, instead of doing harmful and useless things in panic, parents should calm down and do these things:
- Record the time when the child twitches. Take a mobile phone to record the child’s convulsions so that doctors can judge the illness.
Most febrile convulsions last very short, usually less than one minute, and 90% spontaneously relieve within 5 minutes. There are two points to note:
- If it lasts for more than 5 minutes, Need to see a doctor nearby or call 120 for help, If children have had febrile convulsions for more than 30 minutes in the past, It is more likely to have a long-term attack again, Once again, should see a doctor as soon as possible, use antispasmodic drugs to stop the convulsion. No matter how long the convulsion lasts, it is best to go to the hospital for examination after the convulsion is over. If the final confirmation is simple type of febrile convulsion, there is generally no special treatment. However, it is necessary to check the cause of fever, especially to rule out the possibility of intracranial infection.
Parents’ Common Questions about Febrile Convulsion
1. Does febrile convulsion hurt your brain?
Febrile convulsion looks scary, but as long as it does not fall down or aspirate during convulsion, most of them will not cause harm to children or affect their brains.
Febrile convulsion itself does not harm children, However, children with febrile convulsions have a slightly higher risk of epilepsy in the long run than the general population. Generally speaking, About 2% of febrile convulsions will develop into epilepsy, and the probability of complex convulsions is higher. However, this situation is determined by the children’s physical conditions, especially their genetic quality, and is not directly caused by febrile convulsions. Drug therapy cannot change this trend.
2. Will febrile convulsion recur?
As for whether febrile convulsion will occur again, it is related to the child’s own situation.
The younger the age at which febrile convulsion occurs, the greater the possibility of re-smoking. The first febrile convulsion is less than one year old, and the possibility of re-smoking is about 50%. If the immediate family members have a history of febrile convulsion, the risk of re-smoking is also greater.
Can febrile convulsion be prevented?
Many parents still want to know how to prevent febrile convulsions, given their children’s horrible appearance. Unfortunately, every child has to experience a fever during the process of growing up. You can’t control whether the child does not have a fever at all, nor can you control whether the child encounters febrile convulsions, or whether the child encounters febrile convulsions during what.
The only thing that can be done is to wait for the child to grow up, and the chances will be small after the age of 3 and even less after the age of 5.
Antipyretic Drugs Can’t Prevent Febrile Convulsion
Because it is called febrile convulsion, many parents, including some doctors, believe that fever should be actively reduced. However, in fact, studies have proved that antipyretic drugs including ibuprofen and acetaminophen cannot prevent febrile convulsion.
If the child has convulsions every time he has fever within 1 year old, it may not be a simple febrile convulsion and needs to be seen by a professional pediatric neurologist.
Can’t prevent convulsion does not mean don’t take antipyretic drugs, if the child’s body temperature exceeds 39 ℃, obviously uncomfortable, the medication still need to be used. How to deal with or how to deal with fever, do not need to do what to prevent febrile convulsion, do also useless.
If the child’s convulsion time is relatively long, the doctor may stop the convulsion by intravenous injection of diazepam and intramuscular injection of midazolam.
Preventive use of these drugs may reduce the risk of convulsion again, but it is not necessary to use these drugs because febrile convulsion itself does not cause what damage to children and the incidence of side effects is high.
Most febrile convulsions are simple, but complex febrile convulsions, i.e. Local and asymmetric convulsions lasting more than 15 minutes and repeated convulsions within 24 hours, have a greater chance of developing epilepsy. Whether preventive use of antiepileptic drugs is needed needs to be determined after evaluation by pediatric neurologists.
Responsible Editor: Zhang Jingyuan
The article was reprinted by Clove Garden authorized by the author.