Blinded Trial of Buprenorphine or Morphine in the Treatment of the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Summary

The opioid neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a condition of withdrawal symptoms after utero exposure to opioids. In an open label Phase 1 trial sublingual buprenorphine was associated with a \~30% reduction length of treatment compared to standard of care morphine. Due to the subjective nature of the scoring instrument, efficacy in a blinded trial is needed to unequivocally establish the superiority of buprenorphine over morphine. The primary objective of the trial is to compare length of treatment using sublingual buprenorphine or oral morphine solution in the pharmacologic treatment of the NAS.

Timeline

Start

2011-11

Primary completion

2016-06

Completion

2016-06

Publications

• Background Kraft WK, Dysart K, Greenspan JS, Gibson E, Kaltenbach K, Ehrlich ME. Revised dose schema of sublingual buprenorphine in the treatment of the neonatal opioid abstinence syndrome. Addiction. 2011 Mar;106(3):574-80. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03170.x. Epub 2010 Oct 6.
• Background Kraft WK, Gibson E, Dysart K, Damle VS, Larusso JL, Greenspan JS, Moody DE, Kaltenbach K, Ehrlich ME. Sublingual buprenorphine for treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome: a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2008 Sep;122(3):e601-7. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0571. Epub 2008 Aug 11.
• Zankl A, Martin J, Davey JG, Osborn DA. Opioid treatment for opioid withdrawal in newborn infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Jul 7;7(7):CD002059. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002059.pub4.
• Kraft WK, Adeniyi-Jones SC, Chervoneva I, Greenspan JS, Abatemarco D, Kaltenbach K, Ehrlich ME. Buprenorphine for the Treatment of the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 15;376(24):2341-2348. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1614835. Epub 2017 May 4.

Drugs

Indications