Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the adverse drug
reactions (ADR) in pediatrics and determine the predominant symptoms of
adverse drug reactions in children. Material & Methods: This case
series study was carried out at the Bahrami Pediatric Hospital, Tehran
where the files of 25 admitted patients with the diagnosis of adverse
drug reaction 1998 to 2005 were studied. Findings: The average age was
4.6 (±3.7) years and symptoms of adverse drug reactions were
observed 12.6 (±14.3) days after initiation of the drug intake.
Skin rash was seen in all patients more in form of maculopapular rash
followed by urticaria. Arthralgia was the next common symptom observed
in 44% of patients. The common abnormal laboratory data was high
erythrocyte sedimentation rate which was seen in 40% of patients. The
most common ingested drugs were phenothiazine and sulfasalazine (each
of them seen in 28% of patients) followed by penicillin (16%),
furazolidone (16%), cephalosporins (4%) and valproic acid (4%). In 28%
of patients poly-pharmacy was responsible for ADR.Conclusion: Awareness
of the problem, observation of poly-pharmacy and potential drug-drug
interactions, and continuous re-evaluation of the ongoing individual
pharmacotherapy is important, especially in children, to reduce ADRs