Anti-convulsants used in epilepsy better together

Second-line drugs used in the management of seizures in children who have epilepsy should be used together, not separately, for the best results, a Kiwi-led study has found. Using emergency department data from Australia and New Zealand, researchers looked at whether a newer anticonvulsant, which can be administered faster than commonly used ones, was effective on its own after first-line drugs - benzodiazepams - fail. They found both second-line drugs when given by themselves were associated with considerable failure rates, but using them one after the other reduced the failure rate by more than half, suggesting clinicians should consider this method before moving on to intubation.