Biol. Pharm. Bull. 29(2) 321—323 (2006)

a2-adrenoceptor agonist, is currently used for pre-anesthetic medication owing to its sedative and analgesic properties. These unique properties provide pre-operative sedation and preventing postoperative pain and vomiting in pediatric patients, as well as adults. One drawback for this medicine applying to pediatric patients is difficulty in taking. To overcome this problem, several formulations including lollipop have been developed so far. We previously evaluated efficacy and safety of lollipop preparation in pediatric patients and found individual variation of sedative effects owing to variable blood CL concentrations, which were due to the difference in taking lollipop in individual patient. The patients especially aged 1—3 years old seemed to be difficult to lick the CL-lollipop completely, so they could not take it up to the prescribed dose. We, therefore, developed orally-disintegrating (OD) tablets as an alternative preparation of CL to resolve the problem. In this study, we evaluated the newly developed OD preparation by comparing with lollipop preparation in sedation score, blood CL concentration and hemodynamic changes in pediatric surgery.