This guideline covers the assessment, preparation, training and monitoring needed when using sedation in people aged under 19. It aims to help healthcare professionals decide when sedation is the most clinically and cost effective option for reducing pain and anxiety during operations for children and young people. In October 2014, changes were made to the footnotes about the licensing of drugs to say that at the time of publication (December 2010), no drugs have a UK marketing authorisation specifically for sedation in all ages of infants, children and young people under 19, and to emphasise that prescribers should follow current summaries of product characteristics and seek advice if needed. In addition, appendix D was deleted.