[Analgesia, sedation and relaxation in the child with mechanical ventilation].

The basic concepts of sedation and analgesia and the tools to asses the level of sedation and analgesia are review. The different methods of sedation and the non pharmacological interventions are described. Sedatives, analgesics and muscle relaxants, their pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics in children, their indications in specific situations (intubation, pain control, sedation and neuromuscular blocking) are reviewed. The etiology of patient-ventilator asynchrony in ventilated children and how to treat it are analyzed, giving guides of how to adapt sedation to the level of mechanical ventilation therapy. Finally, general recommendations are given for the analgesia and sedation in mechanically ventilated children.