Use of dexmedetomidine during mechanical ventilation in extremely preterm and extremely low birth weight neonates receiving morphine: A single‐center retrospective study

Analgesia and sedation are often provided during mechanical ventilation in extremely preterm neonates. Opioids and benzodiazepines are the most frequently used agents but can have adverse effects. Dexmedetomidine, an alpha‐2 agonist, might be interesting to spare opioid and benzodiazepine use. The objective of this study was to describe a cohort of mechanically ventilated extremely, preterm infants treated with morphine with or without dexmedetomidine. This was a retrospective, observational, single‐center study in the neonatal intensive care unit of Creteil. We included preterm neonates born before 28 weeks of gestation and/or weighting less than 1000 g hospitalized between July 2017 and June 2020, on mechanical ventilation for at least 72 h and who received morphine with or without dexmedetomidine as a second‐ or third‐line treatment. We described morphine and midazolam exposure, respiratory, and digestive outcomes for patients who received dexmedetomidine and those who did not. Twenty nine preterm infants received morphine and dexmedetomidine, and 44 received morphine without dexmedetomidine. Dexmedetomidine was used in patients of 25.7 [25.1–26.7] weeks, 680 [600–750] g and significantly more often in patients with vascular complications during pregnancy (p = 0.008), intrauterine growth restriction (p = 0.01) and in patients who received higher cumulative doses of morphine (p = 0.01). Morphine and midazolam doses tended to decrease after the introduction of dexmedetomidine. Dexmedetomidine was never discontinued because of side effects. In this study, dexmedetomidine, used as a second or third‐line treatment during mechanical ventilation, was associated with a decrease in morphine and midazolam doses after introduction. Dexmedetomidine was used in a specific population of extremely preterm infants, with severe respiratory disease, who required prolonged mechanical ventilation and high morphine doses. This study highlights the need for pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies in this population, followed by randomized controlled trials and studies on the long‐term effects of dexmedetomidine to determine its place in analgosedation of ventilated preterm infants.