Opioid analgesics are among the most effective medications for pain management but are associated with serious and increasing public health problems, including abuse, addiction, and death from overdose. Currently, there is an opioid epidemic in the United States with the rate of prescription opioid-related overdose deaths quadrupling over the last 15 years. Pediatric patients are particularly vulnerable to the devastating consequences of opioid misuse. Adolescents who are prescribed opioids are at a higher risk for abusing illicit drugs later in life. Clinicians managing pediatric pain must account for such issues while still delivering effective analgesia to young patients who suffer from both acute and chronic pain.
