Evidence · Randomised trial
Morphine versus methadone for neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome: a randomized controlled pilot study.
- Comfort and nursing care
- Medical
- Neonatal abstinence syndrome
- Nursing
- Postnatal and transitional care
Summary
Single-site, open-label randomised controlled pilot study comparing morphine with methadone for treating neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome in infants born at 34 weeks' gestation or more with in-utero exposure to heroin, oral opioids or methadone. Sixty-one infants were enrolled, and outcomes were hospital length of stay and length of treatment. No significant differences in length of stay or treatment were found, but methadone-treated infants received substantially higher morphine-equivalent opioid exposure and had more NICU transfers for over-sedation. The findings inform pharmacological weaning choices for opioid-exposed newborns.
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- Open (Creative Commons)
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