title: Use of phenothiazines as sedatives in children: what are the risks?
abstract: Phenothiazines have been widely used for their antiemetic, antipsychotic and sedative properties for many years. The introduction of alternative agents for paediatric sedation has led to the re-evaluation of phenothiazines as paediatric sedatives. Newer agents, such as fentanyl and midazolam, have short half-lives and reversal agents are available. Therefore these agents may offer comparable therapeutic efficacy with a better safety profile in young children. Reports of sudden infant death syndrome in children receiving a phenothiazine-containing syrup for symptoms of upper respiratory infection means that the outpatient use of these compounds in very young infants is not recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. dyer@bostonems.org
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Woolf
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000075202:Contraindications; D004347:Drug Interactions; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D009459:Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D010640:Phenothiazines / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D010640:Phenothiazines