Participants, setting
SE, convulsive SE, seizures
Between 23 December 2019 and 31 March 2022, 176 consecutive patients with convulsive SE transported to nine emergency departments were enrolled. We finished the study when 176 patients were enrolled, irrespective of the patient number in each group. Since scheduled enrolment was achieved earlier, patient registration was stopped and the study was completed in September 2021.The definition of SE is ‘continuous seizures longer than 5 min or discrete seizures longer than 2 min with intervening consciousness disturbanceInformed consent was obtained from a proxy before the study procedure. If no proxy was contactable, the study was conducted immediately without informed consent and researchers then obtained consent when the patient became alert or the proxy was found. Even if consent was obtained from a proxy, the researchers attempted to inform the patient after they become alert and then obtained consent. If enrolment was rejected, data from that patient were not used in analyses. If patients were unconscious and there was no proxy during hospitalisation, we included them in the analysis.