Picture 2: Flowchart of the study population.
During the study period, 73 patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 11 patients were excluded due to recurrence of hospitalizations or the need for a second dose of magnesium sulfate. In a second analysis, 19 of the remaining 62 patients were excluded due to the presence of comorbidities. There was a loss of 3 patients due to the lack of information in the electronic medical record, ending in a total of 40 patients, according to a previous sample calculation.
Of the 40 patients, 24 were male (60%) and 16 female (40%), with a median age of 3 years (2.8-4.3). By calculating BMI, no patient was overweight or obese, with a median weight of 18 kg (14-23.5).
Through the review of electronic medical records, it was possible to classify patients according to the modified Wood-Downes severity score (picture 1). Before the continuous magnesium sulfate infusion for 4 hours, a variation in the score value from 3 to 6 was observed, with a median of 4 (3-5). After 4 hours of magnesium sulfate administration, the scale values decreased to a range from 5 to 0 with a median of 1 (0-2), showing a statistically significant difference (p <0.001) (picture 3).