Safety and effectiveness of surgery for epilepsy in children. Experience of a tertiary hospital in Ecuador

Abstract Introduction There is sufficient evidence on the usefulness of surgery as a therapeutic alternative for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy; however this treatment is underutilised, especially in developing countries. Methods We describe the outcomes of epilepsy surgery in 27 paediatric patients at Hospital Baca Ortiz in Quito, Ecuador. Our analysis considered the following variables: reduction in seizure frequency, surgery outcome according to the Engel classification, improvement in quality of life, and serious complications due to surgery. Results Twenty-one Corpus callosotomies and 6 resective surgeries were performed. The mean seizure frequency decreased from 465 per month before surgery to 37.2 per month thereafter (P  Conclusions Favourable outcomes were observed in 92.5% of patients.