Untreated pain in children can limit their ability to attend school and socialize. Many children do not receive adequate pain treatment. The WHO guidelines recommend paracetamol, ibuprofen, or morphine to treat mild to severe pain in children. The GAPP project aims to study gabapentin, an anti-epileptic drug, as a treatment for neuropathic pain in children alone or in addition to morphine. The goal is to propose gabapentin treatment for chronic pain in children and assess its safety. The ICCCPO participates in GAPP to help ensure children receive the best possible pain treatment worldwide.

1. Patty Brouwer
5th European ICCCPO Meeting, Valencia
16 May, 2014

2. Pain treatment in children
Suffering from pain can limit a child’s ability to
attend school, socialize and participate in
physical activity.
Studies suggest that many children do not
receive appropriate help or pain treatment, and
are often undertreated
(Goodman JE and McGrath PJ, 1991; PerquinCW et al., 2000; Schanberg LE et al., 2003).
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

3. Pain treatment in children
WHO guidelines on the pharmacological
treatment of persisting pain in children with
medical illnesses (including cancer), 2012:
1. mild pain: paracetamol/acetaminophen and
ibuprofen (non opioids)
2. moderate to severe pain: morphine
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

4. WHO
1st priority is to find strong opioids as an
alternative for morphine or as a complimentary
drug to morphine
2nd priority is the search for drugs to reduce
neuropathic pain. Among these, gabapentin is
specifically listed.
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

5. GABAPENTIN
• anti epileptic
• used in adults for neuropathic pain treatment
• for adults proven to bring great benefit, good
results
• expected to bring great benefit to children for
whom very few approved medication are
available for the treatment of pain
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

6. What is GAPP?
• GAbapentin in Paediatric Pain
• Consortium of 15 Partners from public and
private research institutions coming from
Albania, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece,
Italy, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom
• 4 years project
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

7. Final Goal of GAPP
To propose a treatment of chronic pain with a
neuropathic component in children with
gabapentin both as monotherapy and as
additional therapy to morphine
To assess the safety of gabapentin in children
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

8. ICCCPO’s participation in GAPP
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

9. One of ICCCPO’s visions
ICCCPO wants to ensure that children receive
the best possible care (pain treatment)
wherever they are in the world at the time of
diagnosis and beyond
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

10. Contacts
For more information contact:
headoffice@icccpo.org
Coordinator: Dr. Donato Bonifazi of the
Consorzio per Valutazioni Biologiche e
Farmacologiche (CVBF) gapp@cvbf.net
EUproject - GAba-Patty Brouwer pentin in Paediatric Pain (GAPP)

11. we care, we share
www.icccpo.org
Patty Brouwer