Abstract
Eyewitnesses frequently perceive seizures as life threatening. If an event occurs on the hospital premises, a "code blue" can be called which consumes considerable resources. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and characteristics of code blue calls for seizures and seizure mimickers. A retrospective review of a code blue log from 2001 through 2008 identified 50 seizure-like events, representing 5.3% of all codes. Twenty-eight (54%) occurred in inpatients; the other 22 (44%) events involved visitors or employees on the hospital premises. Eighty-six percent of the events were epileptic seizures. Seizure mimickers, particularly psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, were more common in the nonhospitalized group. Only five (17.9%) inpatients had a known diagnosis of epilepsy, compared with 17 (77.3%) of the nonhospitalized patients. This retrospective survey provides insights into how code blues are called on hospitalized versus nonhospitalized patients for seizure-like events.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 189-190 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Epilepsy and Behavior |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2011 |
Keywords
- Code blue
- Epilepsy
- Epilepsy monitoring unit
- Medical emergency
- Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures
- Seizure
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology
- Behavioral Neuroscience