The usual practice of taking Tramadol as pain reliever among adults is gradually taking a different turn as it is now discovered that Tramadol is being administered to children below 18 years of age. According to NAFDAC, the US-FDA has discovered that the use of Tramadol in children below 18 years of age may result in a rare but serious case of slowed or difficulty in breathing.

The risk associated with the use of Tramadol for pain treatment after surgery may be increased when removing tonsils and or adenoids. Tramadol is a type of narcotic drug known as opioid that is approved to treat moderate to moderately severe pains in adults. Tramadol is packaged under various product names in combination with the pain reliever Acetaminophen and as generic.

The general public are hereby informed that Tramadol is not approved for use in children. According to data available to US-FDA, it was discovered that Tramadol is sold "off-label" in the pediatric population.

However, some conscious measures are recommended for prescribers and patients to curb the increasing rate of Tramadol use in children. These measures include the following:

The healthcare professionals should be aware of this and consider prescribing an alternate approved pain reliever for children.
The parents and caregivers of children taking Tramadol who notice any possible signs of slow or shallow breathing, difficult or noisy breathing, confusion or unusual sleepiness should immediately stop administering Tramadol and seek immediate medical attention.

Endeavour to report any adverse eventsor side effects related to the use of Tramadol in children to NAFDAC PRASCOR system via Adverse Events Report forms or through text messages to 20543 or send e-mail to pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng

We hope that by this notice, the general public will no longer fall victims of indulging in harmful and dangerous use of Tramadol in children as this may cause severe damages to our beloved children's health.

link: http://www.ozoneviews.com/2016/01/public-notice-health-risks-of-using.html