Comparative analysis of analgesic mechanisms in craniotomy pediatric patients: a scoping review - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #Pain Management
- #Analgesics
- #Pediatric Neurosurgery
- Effective postoperative pain management is crucial for pediatric craniotomy patients due to the invasive nature of the procedure.
- Opioids were the most commonly used analgesics (70.7%), with morphine and codeine being the most frequent.
- Non-opioid regimens included NSAIDs/acetaminophen, sedatives, local anesthetic infiltration, and regional nerve blocks.
- 61.7% of patients showed overall clinical improvement, with similar outcomes between single-agent and multimodal regimens.
- Randomized trials indicated that scheduled non-opioid therapy, nerve blocks, and local anesthetic techniques reduced pain scores and opioid requirements without increasing complications.
- Current evidence supports multimodal, opioid-minimizing strategies, reserving opioids for breakthrough pain.