Effects of vagus nerve stimulation and epilepsy surgery on antiseizure medication usage in pediatric patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy in the real world: A retrospective nationwide cohort study

We studied children with drug-resistant epilepsy who were treated with either vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) or brain surgery for epilepsy. We found that brain surgery often led to a large and lasting reduction in seizure medication, whereas VNS helped stabilize medication use. Both treatments were linked to fewer cases of status epilepticus, a severe type of seizure emergency. These findings suggest that VNS and surgery may help reduce medication burden and protect against serious seizures in children with hard-to-treat epilepsy.