Intramuscular midazolam rapidly terminates seizures in children and adults

Abstract

Objective: To study the efficacy of intramuscular midazolam in treating seizures. Design: On arrival, patients with seizures were treated with intramuscular midazolam, a stopwatch was started, and an intravenous line inserted. If the seizure had not stopped within six minutes, standard intravenous anticonvulsants were given. The time to cessation of the seizure was recorded. Setting: Department of Emergency Medicine, Fremantle Hospital, a busy emergency department (50,000 annual attendances, 18% children) in a general community teaching hospital. Main outcome measure: Time to cessation of fitting. Results: Thirty eight patients aged from 15 months to 89 years, were treated with intramuscular..