Variation in clinical practice in the management of febrile seizures.

Febrile seizures are a common problem facing those who provide health care to children. Wide variation in physician management of the simple febrile seizure has been reported. Recent published data have helped to clarify some of the diagnostic and therapeutic issues confronting the physician managing a child with this entity. In order to assess the current management of the child with a first simple febrile seizure, a questionnaire was sent to 584 physicians who care for children. Twenty-five percent of the respondents reported that they would use anticonvulsant therapy in a manner that has been shown to be ineffective. The responses showed that wide variation still exists in the management of febrile seizures.