Night Terrors

Synonyms:

sleep terror

Diagnosis:

A type of parasomnia, diagnosed by clinical features supported by investigations

Clinically features:

Child appears to awake (vocalisations, fear motor activity) & is disoriented & goes back to sleep
No recall of the episode usually
Difficult to arouse during this

Findings on Investigations:

Polysomnography: confirms it
Occurs during Slow wave sleep (formerly stage 4 non-REM sleep)
Occur ~1.5 hours into sleep i.e. 1st third of the night

Treatment:

Reassure the parents
2nd line:
Wake the child 15 min before expected episode for 1 week