Surgery in patients with childhood-onset epilepsy: analysis of complications and predictive risk factors for a severely complicated course.

Surgery for childhood-onset focal epilepsy provides excellent results on seizures and an acceptable safety profile at any age. Nevertheless, our results suggest that increasing age at surgery is associated with an increase in odds of developing severe surgery-related complications. These findings support the recommendation that children with drug-resistant, symptomatic (or presumed symptomatic) focal epilepsy should be referred for a surgical evaluation as early as possible after seizure onset.