last updated 19-03-2024

Pharmacokinetics in pediatrics

Pharmacokinetics in pediatrics

The development from neonate until adulthood is a process with enormous changes in the human body. In the focus of pharmacokinetics, children cannot be considered as small adults. Besides the fact that many organs are not completely developed yet in small children, the composition of the body and the proportion of several body parts is also very different.

These characteristics have important implications for pharmacokinetics in children: absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs can be severely altered. The graphic lists important issues, which can be very different in a child compared to an adult.

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In general, pediatric patients eliminate drugs at about half the rate as adults.