Evaluation of patients admitted to the emergency department with fever and convulsion with respect to lumbar puncture and laboratory findings

Abstract

Background: Febrile seizure in children is the most common type of convulsion and is observed in children between the ages of 6 months to 6 years. The pathology of febrile seizures is still not fully explicated, but the existence of a genetic predisposition is well known. We aimed to examine when and under what conditions lumbar puncture needs to be implemented in patients who have experienced fever and convulsion. Methods: To this end, we evaluated the clinical and laboratory results of 199 children with fever and convulsion between the ages of 6 months to 6 years. Results: The most common cause of fever in patients with febrile convulsions was upper respiratory tract infection. Our laboratory findings revealed that the regularly determined C-reactive protein levels were not significant for any age group. Conclusion: For patients younger than 12 months, white blood cell levels can help, but alone are not sufficient for the diagnosis or lumbar puncture. As a result, we suggest that routine lumbar puncture should be implemented in accordance with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics regardless of the clinical and laboratory findings, especially in patients under the age of 1 year with febrile convulsions.