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When a child experiences a brain-related issue, such as a seizure, stroke, or nerve and muscle issues, it can be frightening. The epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) at Norton Children’s Hospital is a special inpatient unit with eight beds, where kids are closely watched with continuous monitoring. This specialized unit helps children who have epilepsy, unexplained seizures or other undiagnosed brain-related episodes.
At Norton Children’s Hospital, our team of pediatric neurologists, epileptologists (epilepsy specialists), nurses and medical staff work day and night to diagnose the cause, location and severity of your child’s seizures.
Norton Children’s Hospital offers outstanding testing, treatment and care for children with brain conditions through pediatric neurology services provided by Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute.
Our pediatric neurologists treat children’s health issues related to the brain, spinal cord and all muscles, nerves and the blood vessels connected to them. Our team is dedicated to caring for children with very complex brain and nervous system developmental conditions. We ensure that each child’s family is part of the treatment planning process, and we provide answers and support along the way.
If your child experiences their first seizure or they have already been diagnosed with epilepsy, they may be referred to an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU). The close monitoring available in an EMU allows the care team to record and evaluate brain activity to create an epilepsy treatment plan that’s right for your child. Tests done in the EMU can help doctors identify what kind of brain condition your child may have and the exact type of seizure they are having. If your child might need epilepsy surgery, a brain test called an electroencephalogram (EEG) can show the doctors the best kind of surgery to help.
Once a child is checked in and comfortable, we begin the monitoring. First, we put tiny metal discs, called electrodes, on the child’s head. The discs are connected by wires to equipment that records and monitors brain waves through an EEG. Electrode placement is not painful, but we ask that the patient remains still as much as possible while the electrodes are attached to the scalp with special glue or gel.
The patient is monitored by the constant EEG as well as a video camera. Watching the brain’s activity continuously for several days with the video EEG monitoring gives our care team a clearer understanding of the brain’s action, what the seizures look like and how the brain works before and after a seizure.
Recording video and audio allows the EEG technologist to match up the brain wave patterns with what the patient is doing physically during the seizure.
If the child is taking seizure medications, the doctors might lower the dose while the child is in the EMU. This is to determine whether a seizure might happen — in the safety of a hospital setting with a medical team there to care for the child during and after the seizure. This also helps analyze the seizure and which part of the brain is causing the seizure.
The EMU rooms are designed to be comfortable. The child can get up, walk around and bring items from home, such as a tablet, toys or games. Parents or caregivers will stay with the child during their time in the EMU.
Each day, the EEG is reviewed by the child’s care team, including neurologists and EEG technologists. Our team talks with the parent or caregiver daily, shares what they’ve learned from the tests, answers any questions, and explains next steps or any other potential treatments.
The length of a child’s stay in the EMU depends on many factors, including the results of EEG monitoring, the type of seizure the child experiences and other specifics related to the child’s condition. If medication has been reduced or stopped, the child may need to remain in the hospital until they are back on their medicine as originally prescribed. The child won’t be sent home until their medication is at a safe level.
Our care team will review results of testing, advise whether further testing is needed, help the family understand treatment options and care plans, share general information about the program, and answer any questions the family may have.