Anaesthesia | Paediatrics | Pharmacokinetic,Pharmacodynamic and Pharmacogenomic Differences Between Adults and Children

Pharmacokinetic Pharmacodynamic and Pharmacogenomic Differences Between Adults and Children
Session Overview
Description
This session will provide an overview of pharmacokinetic (PK) maturation during infancy and the use of size models to describe PK differences between children and adults. It will go on to describe known pharmacodynamic (PD) differences and consider the impact of pharmacogenomic (PG) differences in infancy.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe the impact of size, maturation of enzyme systems, altered volume of distribution, protein binding and absorption changes on PK changes with age
• List and describe limited reported PD age-related changes
• Assess the impact of pharmacogenomics at different ages

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should have:

• Completed sessions on Pharmacology

Neonates, infants and children are different from adults. Their psychology, social structure, behaviour and disease spectrum are different.

Growth and developmental aspects account for major pharmacokinetic (PK) changes between neonates and small children, whereas body size accounts for most of the PK differences between older children and adults.

Altered pharmacodynamics (PD) are described for a limited number of drugs, particularly in neonates and infants. Convincing evidence that there are PD differences between adults and children for most drugs is lacking.

Pharmacogenomic (PG) effects are similar in children to adults. Impact in neonates of common single nuclear polymorphisms is reduced because clearance pathways are immature.