Paediatric electroencephalograph: The benefits of guidelines

Abstract

This study demonstrates the value of using guidelines to improve timeliness and reduce over-utilisation of EEGs in general paediatric practice.

Measuring the effects of pre-test probability on out-patient first EEG investigation in children – A guide to evidence-based EEG triage in a pandemic

“…Importantly, they are also based on optimised patient populations in which doubts over seizure diagnosis have been minimized through the involvement of experienced child neurologists and epileptologists, sometimes with exclusion of the very young [14]. This is not the context in which many Paediatric EEG referrals are made, however [20,21]. In practice, there is a range of clinical differentials that can mimic seizure presentations in children [1,22].…”

“…The many potentials for EEG misuse or overuse have been documented by several authors [20,[26][27][28]. Guidelines for EEG referral, such as those produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, can help in reducing waste and improving timeliness of EEG-delivery [11,21]. In this study we have adapted the core principles of the NICE guidelines to develop a triage tool, which can be applied to a mixed population of Paediatric referrals and referrers, to produce stratified pre-test probabilities that associate with EEG outcome.…”