Background - The prevalence of children with medical complexity is increasing, due to an improvement in both neonatal survival and care possibilities. Often, these children have percutaneous gastrostomy or nasogastric tube, but many of the drugs available on the market are not completely suitable for administration through these devices and must therefore first be crushed and dissolved in little water. Galenic drugs can overcome this problem.
Objectives - To evaluate the knowledge of galenic compounds among paediatricians.
Materials and methods - An anonymous questionnaire was administered to hospital paediatricians, family paediatricians and paediatric residents in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region to investigate their knowledge regarding the definition, indications, advantages and legislation that regulates the use of galenic drugs in Italy.
Results - 65 family paediatricians (57.5%), 39 hospital paediatricians (36.1%) and 47 residents (41.2%) responded to the questionnaire. Overall, both family and hospital paediatricians (specialists and trainees) know galenic preparations and their main indications. However, most do not know the legislation for their use and the correct procedure for their prescription. About half of the hospital paediatricians and a third of the family ones incorrectly answered that galenical preparations cost more than or as much as the commercial product. Furthermore, about 15% of both categories said that galenic compounds are less safe than the commercial product.
Conclusions - Galenic preparations are a valid opportunity for optimizing the therapies of children with medical complexity. However, the knowledge of these preparations is still very poor.
