Oral Morphine Weaning for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome at Home Compared with In-Hospital: An Observational Cohort Study.

CONCLUSIONS: We present the first North American cohort of neonates weaned with morphine at home for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). We found that more days on oral morphine resulted in fewer returns to hospital for continued withdrawal management. There was no evidence of increased effectiveness, measured by the number of returns to hospital for further NAS management with in-hospital weaning. The estimated cost savings of continued weaning upon discharge was approximately $11,000 per patient (Canadian dollars). While further prospective research is necessary, in some cases morphine weaning at home may present a safe and cost-effective strategy for NAS management. PMID: 25342143 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Paediatric Drugs - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Paediatr Drugs Source Type: research