• Nasim Ahmed, Larissa Russo, and Yen-Hong Kuo.
• Department of Surgery, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Nutley, NJ.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2024 Aug 1; 25 (8): 710719710-719.

ObjectivesTo compare levetiracetam and phenytoin as prophylaxis for the short-term development of status epilepticus (SE) during care of pediatric patients with acute severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).DesignNonprespecified secondary analysis using propensity score matching.SettingWe used the Approaches and Decisions in Acute Pediatric TBI Trial (ADAPT NCT04077411) dataset (2014-2017).SubjectsPatients less than 18 years old with Glasgow Coma Scale Score less than or equal to 8 who received levetiracetam or phenytoin as a prophylactic anticonvulsant therapy.InterventionNone.Measurement And Main ResultsOf the 516 total patients who qualified for the case-control study, 372 (72.1%) patients received levetiracetam, and 144 (27.9%) received phenytoin. After propensity score matching, the pair-matched analysis with 133 in each group failed to identify an association between levetiracetam versus phenytoin use and occurrent of SE (3.8% vs. 0.8%, p = 0.22), or mortality (i.e., in-hospital, 30-d and 60-d). However, on closer inspection of the statistical testing, we cannot exclude the possibility that selecting levetiracetam rather than phenytoin for prophylaxis was associated with the following: up to a mean difference of 7.3% greater prevalence of SE; up to a mean difference of 13.9%, 12.1%, and 13.9% greater mortality during the hospital stay, and 30-, and 60-days after hospital arrival, respectively. Last, analysis of 6 months Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended score in those without premorbid comorbidities, there was an association between favorable outcomes and use of phenytoin rather than levetiracetam prophylaxis.ConclusionsIn ADAPT, the decision to use prophylactic levetiracetam versus phenytoin failed to show an association with occurrence of subsequent SE, or mortality. However, we are unable to exclude the possibility that selecting levetiracetam rather than phenytoin for prophylaxis was associated with greater prevalence of SE and mortality. We are unable to make any recommendation about one prophylactic anticonvulsant medication over the other, but recommend that further larger, contemporary studies in severe pediatric TBI are carried out.Copyright © 2024 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.

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