Oral feeding outcomes of infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome

Abstract

The Government of Canada in 2016 officially declared the opioid crisis as a national public health emergency. 1As the opioid crisis continues to prevail, the number of expecting mother’s using opioids during their pregnancy is increasing, as well as complications associated with the infant’s health. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) occurs when the infant experiences withdrawal symptoms, such as hyperirritability, excessive crying and tremors after birth due to the in-utero drug exposure. These withdrawal symptoms often interfere with infant’s ability to engage in oral feeds, and thus they receive their nutrients via tube feedings. 2 However, infants who are in the NICU must have achieve independent oral feeds before being discharged from the hospital. The concept of NAS infants having longer feeding times compared to other NICU infants has been a common assumption, but no research has sought out to quantitively prove this. This study will be conducted by a retrospective chart review and the participants will be infants with NAS who are in the NICU and require pharmacological interventions. This study group will be matched with a control group of infants, with respiratory distress syndrome, for birth age (1-week difference) and birth weight (≤500 g difference). Independent group t-tests will be conducted to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups in time to reach independent oral feeds and a Chi square test will be used to compare baseline demographics.
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