Late Post-traumatic Epilepsy in Children and Young Adults: Impropriety of Long-Term Antiepileptic Prophylaxis and Risks in Tapering

Background After traumatic brain injury, epilepsy affects up to 20 % of children. It is a risk factor, for both clinical recovery and cognitive performance; therefore pharmacological therapy is advisable. Current guidelines recommend prophylaxis to be initiated as soon as possible and tapered 1 week after trauma. However, no guideline exists for paediatric patients and the clinical practice is heterogeneous.