The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG
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J Pediatr Pharmacol Ther · Oct 2013
ReviewOpioid use and the risk of respiratory depression and death in the pediatric population.
Pediatric patients may be at an increased risk of adverse effects from various medications. Recently, there have been a number of serious adverse events, including several pediatric patients experiencing severe respiratory depression and death as a result of the use of codeine for pain control following tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. ⋯ Opioid-associated respiratory depression was very rare and no deaths were reported in the reviewed studies. These findings under the well-defined conditions of controlled studies may not be the best means of determining overall opioid-associated side effects in pediatric patients.