Opioid Therapy in Infants, Children, and Adolescents – eBook

Opioid analgesics are among the most beneficial medications for pain management but are associated with serious and increasing public health problems, including addiction, abuse, and death from overdose. Presently, there is an opioid epidemic in the United States with the rate of prescription opioid-related overdose deaths quadrupling in the last 15 years. Pediatric patients are specifically vulnerable to the devastating consequences of opioid misuse. Adolescents who are suggested opioids are at a greater risk for abusing illicit drugs later in life. Clinicians handling pediatric pain must account for such problems while still offering effective analgesia to young patients who undergo  both acute and chronic pain.

Opioid Therapy in Children and Adolescents (PDF) is designed to discover the unique aspects of opioid therapy in pediatric patients.  An introductory framework offers historical context and describes the epidemiology of the opioid crisis with emphasis on pediatric implications. Subsequent chapters stress on pediatric opioid pharmacology, safe opioid prescribing practices, and non-opioid alternatives to managing pediatric pain states, including multimodal analgesic strategies, complementary medicine, and interdisciplinary approaches. Mitigation strategies against pediatric opioid diversion and misuse are addressed to assist clinicians develop practice changes that save pediatric patients from opioid-related morbidity and mortality. Clinical case examples are also used throughout the textbook to offer to ground for every chapter and a context within which to observe pertinent issues.

This first of its kind ebook presents a comprehensive approach that will guide clinicians to accurately and safely prescribe opioid analgesics to pediatric patients suffering from pain. It is an important resource for pediatricians, family practitioners, pediatric oncologists, anesthesiologists,  and other clinicians who manage pediatric pain.

NOTE: The product includes the ebook, Opioid Therapy in Children and Adolescents in ePub. A converted PDF is available on request.