British journal of clinical pharmacology
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Br J Clin Pharmacol · Jan 2011
Evaluation of a morphine maturation model for the prediction of morphine clearance in children: how accurate is the predictive performance of the model?
The pharmacokinetics of morphine are well known in pre-term and term neonates, infants, younger and older children, as well as in adults. There are circumstances when a pharmacokinetic study may not be possible in children (especially neonates and infants), and as a result one would like to predict drug clearance in children. Several methods, such as allometric scaling and prediction based on incorporation of physiological parameters, have been suggested. Recently a morphine maturation model has been proposed to predict morphine clearance in the paediatric population. ⋯ The morphine maturation model has a poor predictive power of morphine clearance in preterm and term neonates, infants and very young children and may not be of any practical value for the prediction of morphine clearance in this age group.