pem pearl: 1st Generation antihistamines and seizure
TLDR
Kids who got prescriptions for 1st generation antihistamines had a 22% higher risk of seizures in this Korean Cohort study.
Details
They retrospectively looked at 11,729 children between 6 months and 6 years old, who had a seizure event in Korea. Of those children 3178 were prescribed 1st generation antihistamines 1-75 days before the seizure event. Children had a much higher odds ratio of having a seizure event in the 1-15 day before event period (hazard period) as compared to the control periods of 31-45 days before event and 61-75 days before event. Children between ages 6 months -24 months had a considerably higher odds ratio then children 25 months – 6 years.
Why should we care?
1st generation antihistamines are ubiquitous and commonly prescribed for a variety of reasons. They are known to cause sedation, cognitive impairment, developmental delay, and now these findings suggest seizures as another side effect in predisposed children. This is just another piece of data that supports the existing recommendations of avoiding the use of 1st generation antihistamines in pediatric patients.
Kids who got prescriptions for 1st generation antihistamines had a 22% higher risk of seizures in this Korean Cohort study.
Details
They retrospectively looked at 11,729 children between 6 months and 6 years old, who had a seizure event in Korea. Of those children 3178 were prescribed 1st generation antihistamines 1-75 days before the seizure event. Children had a much higher odds ratio of having a seizure event in the 1-15 day before event period (hazard period) as compared to the control periods of 31-45 days before event and 61-75 days before event. Children between ages 6 months -24 months had a considerably higher odds ratio then children 25 months – 6 years.
Why should we care?
1st generation antihistamines are ubiquitous and commonly prescribed for a variety of reasons. They are known to cause sedation, cognitive impairment, developmental delay, and now these findings suggest seizures as another side effect in predisposed children. This is just another piece of data that supports the existing recommendations of avoiding the use of 1st generation antihistamines in pediatric patients.
