Medicine: Tranquillizer Seizures

Far from tranquilizing a child, some of the potent drugs given to prevent nausea and vomiting may throw him into convulsions, warns a Manhattan pediatrician. In some cases, says New York University's Dr. Sidney Q. Cohlan in GP (published by the American Academy of General Practice), even moderate doses of drugs in the phenothiazine family* produce alarming and puzzling convulsions.

Commonest symptom in susceptible children. Dr. Cohlan reported, is a seizure like that of tetanus, in which the spine is arched stiffly back. Next in frequency come uncontrollable eye rolling, rigidity of the muscles (especially those used in chewing), and drooling. Understandably, physicians have mistaken these disorders for signs of epilepsy, tetanus, bulbar polio and encephalitis. In one case they increased the dose of the drug, in a fumbling effort to treat the seizures that a smaller dose had caused.

Fortunately, says Dr. Cohlan, the symptoms usually subside if the drug is stopped, though sometimes anticonvulsive drugs must be given. And there is no permanent damage. Main thing, he says, is that physicians should not give children these potent drugs haphazardly—and should know what to watch for when they are prescribed.