The Nemours Epilepsy Program, available at both the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville, takes a team approach to the evaluation and treatment of children with seizure disorders. Pediatric neurologists, advanced practice nurses, psychologists, and nurses all work together with patients and their families to provide a specially tailored plan of care that allows patients to live up to their individual potential in school, family, community, and social activities.
The Epilepsy Program uses medication therapy as the main method of seizure management, striving to control seizures while minimizing the side effects of medication regimens. Our staff is experienced in the initiation, management, and discontinuation of a wide range of seizure medications, including new anticonvulsant medications.
Other supplemental therapies that may be offered when medication is not effective include the vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) or the ketogenic diet. The vagus nerve stimulator is an implanted device that delivers intermittent electrical stimulation to the brain, via the vagus nerve, in an attempt to prevent seizures. The ketogenic diet is an extremely precise high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and low-protein diet that requires ongoing care with a neurologist and a registered dietitian.
Children whose seizures continue despite medication and other therapies may be evaluated for surgical treatment. Comprehensive inpatient monitoring and state-of-the-art surgical management of pediatric epilepsy is offered by Nemours through its Jacksonville, Florida, affiliate, the Wolfson Children’s Hospital, and through its Delaware Valley affiliate, the Thomas Jefferson UniversityHospital in Philadelphia.