Sedation with medication and homeopathy for electroencephalographic study in children

Introduction: neurological disorders are one of the most common diseases in pediatric ages. To study these disorders, the recording of brain electrical activity through electroencephalogram is very useful. Sedation is necessary in young children to obtain a record of sleep, usually performed, despite its drawbacks with drug treatment. Objective: to assess the sedative effect of homeopathic passionflower at 6CH to conduct EEG in children compared with chloral hydrate and diphenhydramine syrup. Material and method: an experimental study was conducted with 100 children of both sexes between one and four years old attending the Provincial Department of Neurophysiology at "Pepe Portilla" Pediatric Hospital, Pinar del Rio 2014, to undergo EEG under sedation. A randomized systematic sampling was performed to assign and form two groups of treatment (conventional and homeopathic) with 50 patients each, which was compared by the effectiveness of sedation and its duration. Results: sedation with the 6CH passionflower was as effective as than the one obtained with conventional treatment using chloral hydrate and diphenhydramine syrup, achieving and maintaining all children sedated without the occurrence of adverse reactions, throughout the electroencephalogram. Conclusions: passionflower is an effective and safe homeopathic medication to sedate young children; it is a therapeutic alternative to perform EEG to diagnose central nervous system diseases.