Society guideline links: Seizures and epilepsy in adults

Introduction — This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: Seizures and epilepsy in children".)

International

●International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE): Clinical practice recommendations for the medical treatment of depression in adults with epilepsy (2022)

●ILAE and International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN): A clinical practice guideline on the minimum standards for inpatient long-term video-electroencephalographic monitoring (2022)

●ILAE: Expert consensus recommendations on the timing of referral to evaluate for epilepsy surgery (2022)

●ILAE: Position statement on the classification and definition of epilepsy syndromes with onset at a variable age (2022)

●ILAE: Position statement on the definition of the idiopathic generalized epilepsy syndromes (2022)

●ILAE: Consensus report on recommendations for the use of structural magnetic resonance imaging in the care of patients with epilepsy (2019)

●ILAE: Report on the indications and expectations for neuropsychological assessment in epilepsy surgery in children and adults (2019)

●ILAE: Report on the management of epilepsy in pregnancy (2019)

●IFCN: Clinical utility of EEG in diagnosing and monitoring epilepsy in adults (2018)

●ILAE: Evidence-based recommendations for psychological treatments for adults and children with epilepsy (2018)

●American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and ILAE: Evidence-based guideline – Antiepileptic drug selection for people with HIV/AIDS (2012, reaffirmed 2017)

●ILAE: Position paper on the classification of the epilepsies (2017)

●ILAE: International consensus clinical practice statements for the treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions associated with epilepsy (2011)

Canada

●Choosing Wisely Canada: Don't routinely perform brain imaging after acute seizure in patients with established epilepsy (2019)

United States

●American Academy of Neurology (AAN): Antiseizure medication withdrawal in seizure-free patients – Practice advisory, update (2021)

●American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (ACNS): Standardized critical care EEG terminology (2021)

●AAN: Practice guideline summary – Use of fMRI in the presurgical evaluation of patients with epilepsy (2017, reaffirmed 2020)

●AAN and American Epilepsy Society (AES): Practice guideline summary – Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy incidence rates and risk factors (2017, reaffirmed 2020)

●AAN: Evidence-based guideline – Vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of epilepsy, update (2013, reaffirmed 2019)

●AAN: Reassessment – Neuroimaging in the emergency patient presenting with seizure (an evidence-based review) (2007, reaffirmed 2019)

●AAN: Use of serum prolactin in diagnosing epileptic seizures (2005, reaffirmed 2019)

●AAN and AES: Practice advisory – The use of felbamate in the treatment of patients with intractable epilepsy (1999, reaffirmed 2019)

●American College of Radiology (ACR): ACR Appropriateness Criteria on seizures and epilepsy (revised 2019)

●AAN and AES: Evidence-based guideline – Management of an unprovoked first seizure in adults (2015, reaffirmed 2018)

●AAN and AES: Practice guideline summary – Efficacy and tolerability of the new antiepileptic drugs I: Treatment of new-onset epilepsy, update (2018)

●AAN and AES: Practice guideline summary – Efficacy and tolerability of the new antiepileptic drugs II: Treatment-resistant epilepsy, update (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Avoid routine testing for antiepileptic drug (AED) levels in people with epilepsy (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Do not prescribe long-term treatment with antiepileptic drugs after withdrawal seizures (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Do not routinely order electroencephalogram (EEG) as part of initial syncope work-up (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Do not routinely perform brain imaging after acute seizure in patients with established epilepsy (2018)

●Choosing Wisely: Do not treat females of childbearing potential with Valproate if other effective treatments are available (2018)

●AAN and International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE): Evidence-based guideline – Antiepileptic drug selection for people with HIV/AIDS (2012, reaffirmed 2017)

●AES: Evidence-based guideline – Treatment of convulsive status epilepticus in children and adults (2016)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't use phenytoin or fosphenytoin to treat seizures caused by drug toxicity or drug withdrawal (2015)

●American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP): Clinical policy – Critical issues in the evaluation and management of adult patients presenting to the emergency department with seizures (2014)

●Choosing Wisely: Don't routinely use seizure prophylaxis in patients following ischemic stroke (2014)

●AAN and AES: Practice parameter – Management issues for women with epilepsy: Focus on pregnancy (an evidence-based review) – Obstetrical complications and change in seizure frequency, update (2009, reaffirmed 2013)

●AAN and AES: Practice parameter – Management issues for women with epilepsy: Focus on pregnancy (an evidence-based review) – Teratogenesis and perinatal outcomes, update (2009, reaffirmed 2013)

●AAN and AES: Practice parameter – Management issues for women with epilepsy: Focus on pregnancy (an evidence-based review) – Vitamin K, folic acid, blood levels, and breastfeeding, update (2009, reaffirmed 2013)

●Neurocritical Care Society (NCS): Guidelines for the evaluation and management of status epilepticus (2012)

●AAN, AES, and American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS): Practice parameter – Temporal lobe and localized neocortical resections for epilepsy (2003)

Europe

●European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS): European Handbook of Neurological Management, 2nd edition – Alcohol-related seizures (2010)

●EFNS: Guideline on the management of status epilepticus in adults (2010)

●EFNS: Guidelines on the molecular diagnosis of channelopathies, epilepsies, migraine, stroke, and dementias (2010)

●EFNS: Pre-surgical evaluation for epilepsy surgery – European standards (2000)

United Kingdom

●National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE): Guideline on epilepsies in children, young people and adults (2022)

●NICE: Clinical guideline on epilepsies – Diagnosis and management (2012, updated 2021)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance for deep brain stimulation for refractory epilepsy in adults (2020)

●NICE: Interventional procedures guidance for MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy (2020)

●Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN): A national clinical guideline for the diagnosis and management of epilepsy in adults (2015, revised 2018)

●NICE: Quality standard on epilepsy in adults (2013)

Australia-New Zealand

●Choosing Wisely Australia: Do not routinely undertake repeat blood level monitoring of antiepileptic drug (AED) treatments (2018)

Japan

●[In Japanese] Japanese Society of Neurology (JSN): Epilepsy practice guidelines (2018)