BACKGROUND
Current pharmacologic treatment of the neonatal abstinence syndrome
with morphine is associated with a lengthy duration of therapy and
hospitalization. Buprenorphine may be more effective than morphine for this
indication.
METHODS
In this single-site, double-blind, double-dummy clinical trial, we
randomly assigned 63 term infants (≥37 weeks of gestation) who had
been exposed to opioids in utero and who had signs of the neonatal
abstinence syndrome to receive either sublingual buprenorphine or oral
morphine. Infants with symptoms that were not controlled with the maximum
dose of opioid were treated with adjunctive phenobarbital. The primary end
point was the duration of treatment for symptoms of neonatal opioid
withdrawal. Secondary clinical end points were the length of hospital stay,
the percentage of infants who required supplemental treatment with
phenobarbital, and safety.
RESULTS
The median duration of treatment was significantly shorter with
buprenorphine than with morphine (15 days vs. 28 days), as was the median
length of hospital stay (21 days vs. 33 days) (P<0.001 for both
comparisons). Adjunctive phenobarbital was administered in 5 of 33 infants
(15%) in the buprenorphine group and in 7 of 30 infants
(23%) in the morphine group (P = 0.36). Rates of adverse
events were similar in the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS
Among infants with the neonatal abstinence syndrome, treatment with
sublingual buprenorphine resulted in a shorter duration of treatment and
shorter length of hospital stay than treatment with oral morphine, with
similar rates of adverse events.