Effect and Safety of Shihogyejitang for Drug Resistant Childhood Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective. Herbal medicine has been widely used to treat drug resistant epilepsy. Shihogyejitang (SGT) has been commonly used to treat epilepsy. We investigated the effect and safety of SGT in children with drug resistant epilepsy. Design. We reviewed medical records of 54 patients with epilepsy, who failed to respond to at least two antiepileptic drugs and have been treated with SGT between April 2006 and June 2014 at the Department of Pediatric Neurology, I-Tomato Hospital, Korea. Effect was measured by the response rate, seizure-free rate, and retention rate at six months. We also checked adverse events, change in antiepileptic drugs use, and the variables related to the outcome. Results. Intent-to-treat analysis showed that, after six months, 44.4% showed a >50% seizure reduction, 24.1% including seizure-free, respectively, and 53.7% remained on SGT. Two adverse events were reported, mild skin rash and fever. Focal seizure type presented significantly more positive responses when compared with other seizure types at six months (p = 0.0284, Fisher's exact test). Conclusion. SGT is an effective treatment with excellent tolerability for drug resistant epilepsy patients. Our data provide evidence that SGT may be used as alternative treatment option when antiepileptic drug does not work in epilepsy children.

A cross-sectional survey of clinical factors that influence the use of traditional Korean medicine among children with cerebral palsy

“…Wray et al 18 reported that children who did not experience seizure tended to use CAM, which contrasts with our results showing a higher proportion of children with seizure in the TKM-use group than in the no-TKM-use group. The reasons for this difference could not be determined in the present study, but previous studies have revealed that children who experience seizure use TKM relatively frequently in South Korea 9 and that resistant childhood epilepsy is often treated with herbal medication 25 . Children who had other health problems used TKM more often than children without other health issues.…”

Use of Integrative, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine in Children with Epilepsy: A Global Scoping Review

“…These herbs were reported to be effective in the treatment of epilepsy, all without side effects. Shihogyejitang (SGT), a herbal medication, was studied in Korea, in which a retrospective study of pediatric patients with drug-resistant epilepsy using SGT were analyzed [ 42 ]. Over 44% of the patients showed a greater than 50% reduction in seizures, with 24% being seizure free.…”

Effect of nursing interventions based on the Kano model on symptom relief and parental psychological behavior in children with febrile seizures

“…Besides, the onset of FS usually occur suddenly when the family members of children are unprepared. The family members of children are more stressed, often accompanied by negative emotions such as irritability and anxiety ( Yilmaz et al, 2008 ; Lee et al, 2016 ; Mosili et al, 2020 ; Wubetu et al, 2020 ; Bing et al, 2022 ), resulting in higher expectations for quality of nursing and the need for caring care, and increased difficulty for the nursing staff. Studies ( Lee et al, 2016 ) have pointed out that taking targeted nursing intervention after fully understanding the nursing needs of children’s families can effectively correct the bad psychological behaviors of children’s families, which is extremely important for promoting children’s recovery and building a harmonious doctor-patient and nurse–patient relationship ( Sakai et al, 2009 ).…”