Clinical Takeaway
Cannabinoids have been studied across a range of pediatric medical conditions, with evidence spanning interventional trials, observational studies, and patient surveys. The current body of research supports cautious clinical consideration of cannabinoid therapies in children, particularly for conditions like refractory epilepsy, where pharmaceutical formulations have demonstrated measurable benefit. Safety and efficacy data remain an active area of ongoing surveillance, and clinical decisions should be guided by the most current peer-reviewed evidence.
#2 Cannabinoids for Medical Purposes in Children: A Living Systematic Review.
Citation: Chhabra Manik et al.. Cannabinoids for Medical Purposes in Children: A Living Systematic Review.. Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992). 2025. PMID: 40437694.
Design: 5 Journal: 0 N: 2 Recency: 2 Pop: 3 Human: 1 Risk: 0
This living systematic review establishes a foundational evidence base for cannabinoid safety and efficacy in pediatric populations, addressing a critical gap in clinical knowledge given increasing off-label use despite limited rigorous data in children. The continuous update methodology ensures clinicians have access to emerging evidence as new pediatric cannabinoid studies are published, enabling more informed prescribing decisions and regulatory guidance development. By systematically documenting both adverse effects and reported benefits across diverse pediatric conditions, this review provides an essential reference for risk-benefit discussions with families and supports identification of conditions where cannabinoid research in children warrants prioritization.
Methodological Considerations:
- Small sample — underpowered for subgroup analysis
Abstract: AIM: We developed a living systematic review (LSR) that will continuously map the safety and reported benefit data related to cannabinoid use for medical purposes in children. METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to April 2023. Studies involving at least one child 20% studies) in studies enrolling children were somnolence, diarrhoea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. CONCLUSION: These findings will continue to be updated to inform practice and reveal knowledge gaps for future research.
💊 This living systematic review represents an important effort to consolidate the fragmented evidence base for cannabinoid use in pediatric patients, yet clinicians should recognize that the included studies likely reflect heterogeneous populations, indications, dosing regimens, and outcome measures that limit direct comparability. The authors appropriately acknowledge that cannabinoid research in children remains sparse relative to adult literature, and most existing evidence derives from observational studies or small trials rather than large randomized controlled trials, meaning efficacy claims remain preliminary for most pediatric conditions. Key confounders include the wide variation in cannabinoid formulations and ratios, the difficulty in blinding studies, publication bias favoring positive findings, and the challenge of separating therapeutic effects from placebo response in subjective outcomes like pain or anxiety. Until more rigorous pediatric trials are completed, the most defensible clinical approach is to reserve cannabinoid consideration for children with specific, refractory conditions such as treatment-resistant epilepsy where the evidence base is comparatively stronger, while maintaining transparent discussions