Need for Lumbar Puncture in Children with Simple Febrile Seizure

The decision to perform lumbar puncture in a child with a simple febrile seizure should depend more on the history and physical examination than just on the age of the patient.

Seizure is a common presenting symptom of bacterial meningitis. The 1996 AAP guideline for evaluation of children with simple febrile seizures recommends that lumbar puncture be “strongly considered” for infants aged 6 to 12 months and “considered” for children aged 12 to 18 months. To examine the rate of bacterial meningitis and compliance with AAP recommendations, researchers reviewed records of 704 children younger than 18 months who presented between 1995 and 2006 to a Boston pediatric emergency department with a first simple febrile seizure.

Lumbar puncture was performed in 70% of the 188 children aged 6 to 12 months and in 25% of the 516 older children. Overall, 10 children had cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis; no bacterial pathogens we…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Need for Lumbar Puncture in Children with Simple Febrile Seizure

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Reviewing Author