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Completed

NCT Number: NCT01734551

NAS Treatment - Opiate Versus Non-Opiate

The purpose of this study is to compare two different medicines to treat babies with opiate withdrawal. The treatment medicines are morphine, which is an opiate, and clonidine, a non-opiate. Morphine is a narcotic medicine, with is included in most pain killers. Clonidine is another drug, but is different from morphine. It is also used for babies, and even adults for withdrawal symptoms. Both drugs are effective, but the purpose of this study is to see if one may be better than the other.

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Key information

Conditions

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Chemically-Induced Disorders Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities Infant, Newborn, Diseases Mental Disorders Substance-Related Disorders

Age range

1 day–7 day

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 4

Primary location

University of Kentucky Medical Center

Lexington, Kentucky, 40536, United States

About this study

Withdrawal from drugs, called Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), is a group of symptoms that occurs to babies whose mother took or used drugs (prescription, addicting, illegal, pain pills, or drugs for addiction treatment) during pregnancy. Medicines the mother takes while pregnant, the baby also takes. Babies may experience withdrawal after delivery, and may need treatment. There are different ways to treat babies with withdrawal - about 50% of doctors use morphine, an opiate, to treat these babies, the rest uses other drugs, like clonidine and phenobarbitol.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)- Gestational age (GA) >or= 35 wks
  • Known prenatal opiate exposure (maternal history, positive opiate screen, positive neonatal urine or meconium screen)
  • Symptomatic with Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scores meeting NICU protocol for treatment

Exclusion criteria

  • Seizures
  • Major congenital malformations
  • Unlikely to survive
  • Parents not able to understand English

Treatment and study plan

Morphine

Drug

Start at 0.4mg/kg/day (divided every 3-4 hours, given with feeds. Dose may be increased 25% of initial dose until symptoms are stable, up to 1 mg/kg/day.

Once stable for 72 hrs, weaning may begin (decrease 10% of max dose, every other day). When total dose is <0.1mg/kg/day, may discontinue.

Other names: Morphine sulfate

Clonidine

Drug

Initial dose is 5 mcg/kg/day (divided every 3-4 hrs, given with feeds). Will increase 25% of initial dose every 12-24 hrs until stable, up to 12 mcg/kg/day. Dose is unchanged for 72 hours once stable, then may decrease by 10% every other day. If re-escalation is required, the previous dose may be used with 72 hours for stabilizing.

Other names: clonidine hydrochloride

Primary outcomes

  1. Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System

    Time frame: 14 days

    Mean of total Finnegan Scores obtained every 3 hours on days 2, 7, and 14 following start of treatment; A score is a number representing the total score or sum from 21 items or symptoms or manifestations of opiate withdrawal in newborn infants. The total score ranges from 0 to 43. Reference: 1. Finnegan LP, Connaughton JF, Jr., Kron RE, et al. Neonatal abstinence syndrome: assessment and management. Addict Dis 1975;2(1-2):141-58. Although normal newborn may manifest mild symptoms that will give scores in the range of 0 to 7. A score of 8 consecutively obtained times 3 indicate that infant will benefit from treatment, in this study morphine or clonidine. A decrease in scores especially to less than 8 is suggestive of a good response to treatment.

  2. Duration of Treatment

    Time frame: 120 days

    Total number days of treatment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Neurobehavioral Performance Summary Scores From the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS)

    Time frame: 5-10 days after treatment starts

    The summary scores from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) give a measure of infant neurobehavior in the following areas (score range): habituation (1-9), regulation (2.20-7.50), attention (1.29 -8.4), Handling (0 - 1), quality of movement (1.20 - 6.20), Non-optimal reflexes (0-12), Asymmetric reflexes (0-7), arousal (2.43 - 6.67), hypertonicity (0- 8), hypotonicity (0 - 5.0), excitability (0-11), lethargy (0 - 11.0). and stress/abstinence (0. - 0.57). A higher score for each item means a higher level of the construct. For example, a higher score for hypertonicity means the infant is more hypertonic and higher score on hypotonicity means the infant is more hypotonic. No cut-off score published for normal or abnormal behavioral performance. Reference: Lester BM et al. Summary Statistics of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale Scores From the Maternal Lifestyle Study: A Quasinormative Sample, in Pediatrics 2004; 113,668.

  2. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition

    Time frame: 1 year of life

    Scores obtained Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition in the developmental domains of motor, cognitive, and language. This tool for measures of motor, cognitive and language development is a series of standardized measurements and for each domain, the standardized scores have a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15. Scores below 1 standard deviation (= or less than 84) is considered below normal. Scores above 1 standard deviation (over 115) represent higher than normal functioning in each domain The score for each domain (motor, cognitive, and language functioning) represents the full-scale score

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Henrietta Bada

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Pharmacological Treatment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Opiate Versus Non-Opiate

Acronym: NAS

Important dates

Study start
2011
Primary completion
2014
Study completion
2014
First posted
Nov 27, 2012
Registry last updated
Sep 12, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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