Papers of the Week

This retrospective study compared the continuous infusions prescribed for obese and nonobese children. Ninety-five (13.2%) received an infusion. A greater percentage of obese (  = 42/168) versus nonobese (53/552) children received infusions,  < 0.01. No difference was noted in the median number of infusions between the obese and nonobese groups, 2 versus 2,  = 0.975. The top 20 prescribed infusions included ten (50%) for sedation/analgesia or neuromuscular blockade and six (30%) for hemodynamic support. A literature search was performed for these 20 agents to determine pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and dosing in obese children and revealed six studies evaluating fentanyl (  = 2), midazolam (  = 1), and propofol (  = 3).