The incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome has steadily and notably increased in Canada and researchers believe this increase highlights the importance of implementing integrated care for the mother-infant dyad during and after the birth process.
Higher county-level rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome were associated with a regional shortage of mental health clinicians and high unemployment rates.
To identify the most effective treatment for NAS, study authors searched various databases for RCTs where a pharmacological agent was used alone or in combination with adjuvant treatments.
Chronic opioid use during pregnancy that causes neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is associated with smaller neonatal head circumference.
Pregnant women receiving medication therapy for addiction can be prescribed higher doses of buprenorphine without increasing the risk or severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Methadone may be superior to morphine for reducing hospital length of stay and length of drug treatment in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Methadone exposure in utero was shown to increase the risk for neonatal abstinence syndrome compared with buprenorphine exposure.
The infants of women taking opioids concomitantly with psychotropic medications were found to have a substantially heightened risk of neonatal drug withdrawal.
In infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome, sublingual buprenorphine reduced the duration of treatment and decreased the length of hospital stay.
Sublingual buprenorphine is associated with shorter duration of treatment than oral morphine for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
