Early human development
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Early human development · Jan 2016
Evaluation of the relationship between opioid exposure in extremely low birth weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit and neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years.
Extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants are exposed to many painful procedures while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), such as catheter insertion and endotracheal intubation. Exposure of ELBW infants to repetitive pain and stress in the NICU can lead to cardiovascular instability and may alter neuronal and synaptic organization. Opioid analgesics are administered to reduce pain, stress and to potentially reduce poor neurologic outcomes. They may also be utilized as sedation for mechanically ventilated ELBW infants. There is limited data in regards to neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants exposed to opioids, and available studies have conflicting results. ⋯ Cumulative opioid dose is associated with worse cognitive scores at 20 months CA even after adjusting for social and neonatal risk factors.