Chris07
Competent in Incompetence
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I was told on a call recently that high flow oxygen has some benefit to postictal patients, namely by shortening the postictal period. Has anyone heard of this?
I see it all the time here. The reason I am normally told is along the lines of "hey bro, he wasn't breathing during the seizure and he needs a lot of oxygen now to help him"
Unbelievably common in Colorado, not so much here. Seriously, it was just about the first thing everyone did on postictal seizure calls where I worked.
I haven't been able to find any basis in medical evidence from reputable sources. Old EMTs that came before me used their startling knowledge of physiology and EBM to explain "It clears all the cobwebs from the brain. It's basically a broom that goes into the eaves of a postictal brain and clears it all up." I seem to recall eating that kind of garbage up as an EMT student and taking it as gospel.
Anecdotally, I haven't seen it make one iota of difference.
Have you never heard of the cerebral attic?