Background: Seizures occur in 1 to 2 percent of neonates admitted to an intensive care unit. The treatment is usually with either phenobarbital or phenytoin, but the efficacy of the two drugs has not been compared directly.
Methods: From 1990 to 1995, we studied 59 neonates with seizures that were confirmed by electroencephalography. The neonates were randomly assigned to receive either phenobarbital or phenytoin intravenously, at doses sufficient to achieve free plasma concentrations of 25 microg per milliliter for phenobarbital and 3 microg per milliliter for phenytoin. Neonates whose seizures were not controlled by the assigned drug were then treated with both drugs. Seizure control was assessed by electroencephalographic criteria.
Results: Seizures were controlled in 13 of the 30 neonates assigned to receive phenobarbital (43 percent) and 13 of the 29 neonates assigned to receive phenytoin (45 percent; P=1.00). When combined treatment is considered, seizure control was achieved in 17 (57 percent) of the neonates assigned to receive phenobarbital first and 18 (62 percent) of those assigned to receive phenytoin first (P=0.67). The severity of the seizures was a stronger predictor of the success of treatment than was the assigned agent. Neonates with mild seizures or with seizures that were decreasing in severity before treatment were more likely to have their seizures end, regardless of the treatment assignment.
Conclusions: Phenobarbital and phenytoin are equally but incompletely effective as anticonvulsants in neonates. With either drug given alone, the seizures were controlled in fewer than half of the neonates.