Pediatric sleep pharmacology: you want to give my kid sleeping pills?
There is a need for greater information about the pharmacologic management of sleep disorders in children. Pharmacologic guidelines must be developed specifically for sleep disorders in children. Ideally, these guidelines should be approved by the Food and Drug Administration for a specific sleep disorder or for the pediatric age range. This approval prevents physicians from being forced to prescribe medications as an "off label" indication. Development of easy-to-swallow, chewable, or liquid forms of these medications would be well received by parents everywhere. When these are not available, instructions for compounding these medications into a suspension by pharmacists are needed. Integration of behavioral and pharmacologic treatments may yield better patient outcomes. This approach requires pediatricians to have a comprehensive understanding of clinical sleep disorders in children. Training programs should play the lead role in enhancing pediatricians' knowledge of the pharmacologic treatment of sleep disorders in children.
Department of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Behavioral Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. pelayo@stanford.edu
Rafael
R
Pelayo
Wynne
W
Chen
Shiela
S
Monzon
Christian
C
Guilleminault
D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008550:Melatonin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010372:Pediatrics; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D008550:Melatonin