Background:
Ictal pain is a rare manifestation of focal seizures, with a frequency
ranging from 0,2 to 2,8% in patients with epilepsy1.
Classically, it is categorized according to its localization as
cephalic, abdominal (visceral or pneumogastric) or unilateral
somatosensory pain2. The last is usually striking and
can be described as a burning, stabbing, prickling, throbbing, or
tearing sensation. In most cases they are accompanied by other motor,
sensory or behavioral features which can denote their ictal
origin3. When it occurs in isolation, seizures are
often misdiagnosed and patients can go through unnecessary diagnostic
procedures and inadequate treatment. While most patients who present
with paroxysmal headache or abdominal pain do not have an epileptic
cause in their origin, the localization of paroxysmal pain on a limb is
more suggestive of an underlying epileptic cause1.