Paediatric anaesthesia
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · Mar 2017
Review Meta AnalysisThe use of methadone to facilitate opioid weaning in pediatric critical care patients: a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis.
Continuous opioid infusion therapy is commonly utilized in the pediatric intensive care setting to treat pain and facilitate tolerance of invasive therapies. Transitioning to methadone is one common strategy for weaning from continuous opioid infusions, but in practice this transition can be challenging, and many children still experience iatrogenic withdrawal. ⋯ We did not identify sufficient evidence to recommend any particular methadone weaning strategy, or to recommend methadone over other medications or prescribed infusion weaning, for successful weaning of continuous opioid infusions in the pediatric intensive care setting.