Children often suffer from pain and allergies after surgery and painkillers are prescribed, which sometimes have adverse side effects. A recent study has found an alternative medication that may help little ones to cope up better with post surgical pains and aches.
The researchers at University of Adelaide, Australia, have stated in their latest study that a drug Clonidine, given before a surgery to children, helps manage post surgical pains better with lesser side-effects and also eases surgery anxieties.
The researchers have made a comparative analysis of 11 studies to determine the effectiveness of Clonidine in reducing post surgical pain in children below 18.
The results showed that Clonidine taken 4 micrograms/ kilograms has lower side effects compared to other drugs. "Our review may encourage other physicians, health care professionals, consumers or others to consider Clonidine as a premedication where postoperative pain is likely," said Allan Cyna, the lead author of the study, reports medical express
According to the health experts, to choose the correct medications to treat post-operative surgery is extremely important. Clonidine can be used as a cost-effective measure to treat post surgical pains.
"There are some children, based on their prior experiences and neurobiology, whose post-operative pain may be difficult to treat and require special expertise by pediatric pain specialists. This reduces the need for help with post-op pain management and the likelihood of post-op pain problems by what is administered up front," said Lonnie Zeltzer, director of the Children's Pain and Comfort Care Program at Mattel Children's Hospital, in a statement. However, Zeltzer could not confirm how widely this drug is used before surgeries by health experts.
Two side effects of the medicine are lower heart rate and blood pressure.Researchers claim further investigations are required before Clonidine can be used in hospitals. "Even though our findings are encouraging, they are not conclusive because the studies to date are small and vary a lot in their methodologies," said Cyna in a statement. "Rigorous research is still required to confirm these findings."
Clonidine has also got other medical benefits. FDA has already approved the drug to treat oral mucositis induced by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy in cancer patients.
