Paraldehyde Therapy in Childhood Status Epilepticus

Review of the efficacy of rectal paraldehyde in the management of acute and prolonged tonic-clonic convulsions

“…Up until this current study, there had been only one report on the use of rectal paraldehyde in treating status epilepticus in children 8. In this report, of the 13 children (all with non-specified seizure types) who received paraldehyde in 16 separate episodes, only four received the drug rectally and in one of these the rectal dose was followed by an intravenous dose.…”

The treatment of convulsive status epilepticus in children

“…Arachis oil should now be avoided because of the theoretical risk of peanut allergy. There are limited published data on the use of rectal paraldehyde6 23; however, a large amount of clinical experience in children supports its effectiveness. At the time of writing, paraldehyde for rectal administration is difficult to obtain.…”

Management of convulsive status epilepticus in children

“…Nevertheless, some case series report its benefit in a minority of cases where other AEDs have failed. In one case series where paraldehyde was given after phenytoin and phenobarbitone had been unsuccessful, it was found to be effective in six of 16 patients who received a mixture of intravenous and rectal preparations 53. There have been a number of reports of serious adverse side effects from intravenous and intramuscular use54 55 such that only the rectal route is recommended in the UK.…”