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Post-operative pain management can be a challenge, and one of the first choices seems to be opioids. However, opioids have undesirable side effects, and attention may lead to a multimodal analgesia. The use of clonidine is a part of this strategy. We present a study with assessment of routes of administration of clonidine. Overall, there is a good effect of post-operative pain management. Side effects as hypotension and sedation are mentioned but not as a limitation. Many anaesthesiologists do already use clonidine in the management of post-operative pain, but more research about intravenous administration of clonidine is needed.

The management of post-operative pain in the elderly represents a challenge due to coexisting diseases, concurrent medications, and age-related pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic changes. Analgesic therapy in this group of patients should balance the potential efficacy with the risk of interactions and side effects. In general, doses should be smaller and the dosing intervals longer ("start low and go slow") and the use of regional blocks and non-pharmacological treatment should be encouraged. Continuous assessment of pain, pain relief and side effects is particularly important in elderly patients.

Gabapentin is a recently introduced anti-epileptic drug used as an adjuvant in partial and secondarily generalised tonic-clonic seizures. Its mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated, but it seems that gabapentin may regulate voltage-dependent calcium channels, presumably on a spinal level, in the nociceptive system. Two large, controlled clinical trials of painful diabetic neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia have demonstrated its analgesic efficacy. The adverse effects associated with gabapentin treatment are relatively harmless, mild to moderate in severity, and usually transient, with tolerance developing 2-3 weeks after start of treatment. Gabapentin and tricyclic antidepressants are efficacious in the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia.

Ventilator-treated children often require sedation in order to facilitate the ventilation. Sedatives alone or in combination with analgesics are commonly used for this purpose. In some cases, however, the addition of a neuromuscular blocking agent (NMB) may be necessary. In this article a survey is presented regarding both pharmacological and non-pharmacological means of improving the ventilator treatment in ventilated children. The most commonly employed sedatives, opioids and NMB's are discussed. The authors stress that whichever drug is used, it should be administered to the children guided by its effects rather than by a rigid scheme. In that respect monitoring of the treatment is important.