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Emergence of Adverse Reactions to Tramadol in Children and Adolescents at a Paediatric Hospital
Author(s) -
Juliana Gisela Santa,
Titchen Thirza,
Cranswick Noel
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy practice and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 2055-2335
pISSN - 1445-937X
DOI - 10.1002/j.2055-2335.2005.tb00335.x
Subject(s) - tramadol , medicine , pharmacovigilance , adverse effect , adverse drug reaction , drug reaction , pediatrics , drug , emergency medicine , anesthesia , psychiatry , analgesic
Background The use of tramadol at The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne has dramatically increased. This has coincided with the emergence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Aim To investigate potential adverse reactions to tramadol in children and adolescents as compared with adults. Method The ADR program at the hospital detects both spontaneously reported ADRs and those identified by medical records coding reports. For this study, reported reactions to tramadol were retrieved from the hospital's ADR database. Comparison with reports from the Australian Adverse Drug Reaction Advisory Committee and the literature was made. Results 8 ADR reports implicating tramadol in patients aged from 14 months to 22 years were identified. Conclusion Some insight was gained into the possible adverse effects of tramadol in children and adolescents, which are similar to the reported profile of adverse reactions in adults. Further pharmacovigilance studies are required to expand on these findings and provide direction to ensure the safe use of tramadol in this age group.