Comparison of Low and High Dose Clonidine for Infants Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Q2 Medicine

Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-09 DOI:10.5863/JPPT-24-00140

Jacob Kelner, Clare Riotte, Ursula Marquis, Jessica Askew, Michael Brimacombe, Shabnam Lainwala

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: This study compares the efficacy of starting with low-dose vs high-dose enteral clonidine for the treatment of pain, agitation, and opioid withdrawal in high-risk infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review study of infants admitted to a level IV NICU between September 2014 and December 2022 who were started on enteral clonidine before 50 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA) for pain, agitation, or opioid withdrawal. Data were collected over the first 30 days of clonidine treatment. Infants started on low-dose (LDC: <4 mcg/kg/day) and high-dose clonidine (HDC: ≥4 mcg/kg/day) were compared using SPSS V29.0 (IBM) for statistical analyses.

Results: Ninety-five infants met the inclusion criteria; 41 received LDC, and 54 received HDC. There were no statistically significant differences in any demographic parameter between the groups before starting clonidine. There was no difference in reduction in Neonatal-Pain, Agitation, and Sedation Scale (N-PASS) scores during the 30-day treatment period, despite the LDC group having a lower maximum clonidine dose (4 vs 8 mcg/kg/day, p ≤ 0.01) than the HDC group.

Conclusion: Our observational study suggests that starting with LDC may be as effective as HDC in treating pain, agitation, and opioid withdrawal in infants admitted to the NICU.

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低剂量和高剂量可乐定对新生儿重症监护病房婴儿的比较。

目的：本研究比较低剂量和高剂量肠内可乐定治疗新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）高危婴儿疼痛、躁动和阿片类药物戒断的疗效。方法：对2014年9月至2022年12月期间因疼痛、躁动或阿片类药物戒断而在经后50周（PMA）前开始肠内可乐定的IV级NICU患儿进行回顾性图表回顾研究。数据收集于可乐定治疗的前30天。婴儿开始使用低剂量（LDC）：结果：95名婴儿符合纳入标准，41名接受了LDC， 54名接受了HDC。在开始使用可乐定之前，两组之间的任何人口统计学参数都没有统计学上的显著差异。在30天的治疗期间，新生儿疼痛、躁动和镇静量表（N-PASS）评分的降低没有差异，尽管LDC组的最大可乐定剂量低于HDC组（4微克/千克/天，p≤0.01）。结论：我们的观察性研究表明，从LDC开始治疗新生儿NICU的疼痛、躁动和阿片类药物戒断可能与HDC一样有效。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics Medicine-Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

CiteScore

2.40

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics is the official journal of the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group. JPPT is a peer-reviewed multi disciplinary journal that is devoted to promoting the safe and effective use of medications in infants and children. To this end, the journal publishes practical information for all practitioners who provide care to pediatric patients. Each issue includes review articles, original clinical investigations, case reports, editorials, and other information relevant to pediatric medication therapy. The Journal focuses all work on issues related to the practice of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics. The scope of content includes pharmacotherapy, extemporaneous compounding, dosing, methods of medication administration, medication error prevention, and legislative issues. The Journal will contain original research, review articles, short subjects, case reports, clinical investigations, editorials, and news from such organizations as the Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group, the FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and so on.