Burns in Patients with Epileptic Seizure.

Park, Young Kyu; Lee, Jong Wook; Oh, Suk Joon; Jang, Young Chul

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 2005;32(2):250-254.
Published online March 1, 2005.

Burns in Patients with Epileptic Seizure.

Young Kyu Park, Jong Wook Lee, Suk Joon Oh, Young Chul Jang

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Seoul, Korea. ycjang54@hitel.net

Abstract

Burns due to epileptic seizures are commonly deep and usually require operative treatment. The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of burned epileptic patients that could lead to the development of preventive programs to reduce the incidence of burn injuries. We analyzed epidemiological data for 34 patients acutely burned due to epileptic seizure admitted retrospectively. There were 15 male and 19 female subjects. The age distribution was from 6 years to 70 years with the mean age of 42.7 years. Seizures usually occurred while carrying out daily domestic chores. Scalding burns were the most common(38.2%) and most burns were above deep second degree(94.1%). The most common seizure type was generalized tonic-clonic, followed by absence and complex partial. The seizure mostly occurred in the morning because the therapeutic blood level of antiepileptic drugs was decreased extremely at that time by stopping drug arbitrarily or taking inadequately. So more frequent follow-ups at the neurology outpatient clinics for epileptics should be strictly reinforced to maintain the adequate therapeutic blood levels of antiepileptic drugs and fire protective implements should be prepared in the house.

Keywords: Epileptic seizure; Burns