Sedation of the critically ill child

Sedation remains poorly controlled and managed in paediatric intensive care. Previous work has shown that both over- and under-sedation have consequences in terms of morbidity, duration of recovery and outcome. Historically, anaesthetic drugs that have been used liberally in paediatric intensive care units and have turned out to have life-threatening side effects when used as longer-term agents. Current drug therapy is reviewed in terms of pharmacology and clinical practice. Techniques to objectively measure sedation are discussed.