Consensus guidelines on sedation and analgesia in critically ill children

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Stephen Playfor1, Ian Jenkins, Carolyne Boyles

  • 1Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Hospital Road, M27 4HA, Manchester, UK. stephen.playfor@cmmc.nhs.uk

Intensive Care Medicine
|May 16, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Paediatric Intensive Care Society developed consensus guidelines for sedation and analgesia in critically ill children. These guidelines address the lack of evidence-based practices in paediatric critical care, emphasizing the need for further research.

Area of Science:

  • Critical Care Medicine
  • Paediatric Intensive Care
  • Clinical Practice Guidelines

Background:

  • Sedation and analgesia are crucial in pediatric intensive care, yet specific guidelines for critically ill children were lacking.
  • Existing adult guidelines are popular, highlighting a gap in pediatric critical care standards.
  • A multi-disciplinary panel was formed to address this critical need.

Framework:

  • A modified Delphi technique involving three anonymous rounds was employed.
  • Consensus was achieved through four dedicated consensus conferences.
  • A systematic literature review supported the developed recommendations.

Implementation:

  • Twenty key recommendations were established, divided equally between analgesia and sedation.
  • Guidelines focus on maintenance sedation and analgesia for critically ill children.
  • The evidence base supporting these recommendations was evaluated.

Implications:

  • Successfully produced multi-disciplinary consensus guidelines for pediatric sedation and analgesia.
  • Highlighted a significant paucity of high-quality evidence in pediatric critical care.
  • Emphasized the urgent need for future randomized clinical trials in this field.
Abstract

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