Premedication of the pediatric patient - anesthesia for the uncooperative child.
OBJECTIVE
Inadequate handling of an uncooperative child preoperatively results in postoperative behavior problems. Premedication enables a calm induction and helps to decrease postoperative problems. Several premedicants will be covered in this review.


RESULTS
Questions raised about the effects of oral midazolam use in children for premedication are now finding answers. New agents (dexmedetomidine and atypical antipsychotic agents) can be alternatives in premedication, especially in severely uncooperative children. The current literature highlights the missing information about the rather older premedicants.


CONCLUSIONS
The benefits and disadvantages of new and older drugs should be weighed against each other, and decisions should be made according to the requirements of surgery, ward conditions and the severity of psychologic, developmental or mental disease. Further studies for the evaluation of the anxiolytic, sedative and antipsychotic drugs are still required.
Bozkurt
Pervin
P
Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. apervin@yahoo.com
D000759:Adjuvants, Anesthesia; D000293:Adolescent; D000758:Anesthesia; D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011229:Preanesthetic Medication; D011300:Preoperative Care
D000759:Adjuvants, Anesthesia; D000778:Anesthetics, Dissociative; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives