Table 4

Drug dosages for convulsive status epilepticus. Reproduced from Shorvon SD. A handbook of epilepsy treatment, with permission of the publisher, Blackwell Science

Drug	Route	Adult dose	Paediatric dose
Clomethiazole	iv infusion of 0.8% solution	40–100 ml (320–800 mg) at 5–15 ml/min, then 0.5–20 ml/min	0.1 ml/kg/min increasing every 2–4 h as required

Clonazepam	iv bolus	1 mg at < 2 mg/min^4-150	250–500 μg at < 2 mg/min
	iv infusion	Maintenance dose 10 mg/24 h

Diazepam	iv bolus	10–20 mg at < 5 mg/min^4-150	0.25–0.5 mg/kg at < 2–5 mg/min
	rectal administration	10–30 mg^4-150	0.5–0.75 mg/kg
	iv infusion	3 mg/kg/day	200–300 μg/kg/day

Fosphenytoin	iv bolus	15 mg PE/kg at a rate of < 100–150 mg PE/min
		Maintenance dose: 4–5 mg/kg/day iv or im

Isoflurane	inhalation	End tidal concentrations of 0.8–2% to maintain burst suppression

Lidocaine	iv bolus	1.5–2.0 mg/kg at < 50 mg/min^4-150
	iv infusion	Maintenance dose: 3–4 mg/kg/h

Lorazepam	iv bolus	4 mg^4-150	0.1 mg/kg

Midazolam	im or rectally	5–10 mg^4-150	0.15–0.3 mg/kg^4-150
	iv bolus	0.1–0.3 mg/kg at < 4 mg/min^4-150
	iv infusion	0.05–0.4 mg/kg/h
	buccal	10 mg	10 mg

Paraldehyde	rectally or im	5–10 ml (approximately 1 g/ml) in equal volume of water^4-150	0.07–0.35 ml/kg^4-150

Pentobarbital	iv infusion	5–20 mg/kg at a rate of < 25 mg/min, then 0.5–1.0 mg/kg/h increasing to 1–3 mg/kg/h

Phenobarbital	iv bolus	10 mg/kg at a rate of < 100 mg/min	15–20 mg/kg at a rate of < 100 mg/min
		Maintenance: 1–4 mg/kg/day	3–4 mg/kg/day

Phenytoin	iv bolus/infusion	15–18 mg/kg at a rate of < 50 mg/kg	20 mg/kg at a rate of < 25 mg/min

Propofol	iv infusion	2 mg/kg, then 5–10 mg/kg/h initially, reducing to 1–3 mg/kg/h to maintain burst suppression

Thiopental	iv infusion	100–250 mg bolus given over 20 s, then further 50 mg boluses every 2–3 mins until seizures are controlled. Then infusion to maintain burst suppression (3–5 mg/kg/h)

↵4-150 May be repeated.
PE, phenytoin equivalents, iv, intravenous; im, intramuscular.