The experience of seizures after epilepsy surgery

Abstract

Postoperative seizures occur in 20-60% of patients who have epilepsy surgery. Despite this, there is limited understanding of a patient's experience of the recurrence of seizures after surgery. This study used a qualitative approach to identify key themes derived from content analysis of 15 in-depth patient interviews about the experience of seizure recurrence. The results showed a prominence of psychological issues over medical concerns. The four most frequently expressed themes were perceived success of surgery, medication, acceptance of seizure recurrence, and personal independence. Despite seizure recurrence, patient sentiments were not universally negative; rather there was heterogeneit..