Oral Baclofen Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Children With Spasticity

Although oral baclofen has been used for several decades for the treatment of spasticity in adults and in children, there is very little data regarding the pharmacokinetic (PK) or pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of baclofen in children. Therefore, pediatric guidelines, including dose ranges, dosing schedules, dose escalation strategies and anticipated side effects are extrapolated from adult data and require an assumption that safety and efficacy in children is comparable to that in adults. Furthermore, there is wide variability in dosing strategies among practitioners who treat children with cerebral palsy (CP) with respect to starting doses, maximum doses and rates of dose escalation.Establishment of safe and effective dosing strategies for children with CP requires an understanding of the PK and PD properties of baclofen in children and recognition of individual differences that may contribute to divergent clinical responses to baclofen among children with CP.