Therapeutic Management of Idiosyncratic Drug-Induced Liver Injury and Acetaminophen Hepatotoxicity in the Paediatric Population: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a rare but serious adverse event that can progress to acute liver failure (ALF). The evidence for treatment of DILI in children is scarce. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to comprehensively review the available literature on the therapies for both acetaminophen overdose (APAP) and idiosyncratic DILI in the paediatric population. METHODS: We included original articles conducted in a paediatric population (< 18 years) in which a therapeutic intervention was described to manage APAP or idiosyncratic DILI. Findings were summarized based on age groups (preterm newborn neonates, term and post-term neonates, infants, children and adolescents). RESULTS: Overall, 25 publications (fifteen case reports, six case series and four retrospective cohort studies) were included, including a total of 140 paediatric DILI cases, from preterm newborn neonates to adolescents. N-acetylcysteine was used to treat 19 APAP cases. N-acetylcysteine (n = 14), ursodeoxycholic acid (n = 3), corticosteroids (n = 31), carnitine (n = 16) and the combination of glycyrrhizin, reduced glutathione, polyene phosphatidylcholine and S-adenosylmethionine (n = 31) were the therapeutic options for treating idiosyncratic DILI. The molecular adsorbent recirculating system was used in the management of either APAP (n = 4) or idiosyncratic DILI (n = 2), while 20 paediatric ALF cases received continuous renal replacement therapy. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review identified DILI in the paediatric population who have received specific treatment. These interventions appear to be mainly extrapolated from low-quality evidence from the adult population. Thus, there is a need for high-quality studies to test the efficacy of known and novel therapies to treat DILI specifically addressed to the paediatric population. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021214702. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40264-022-01224-w.