Sedation And Analgesia For Neonates In Nicus Across Europe : The Europain Survey

• Background: Pain and stress induced by mechanical ventilation, invasive procedures, or painful diseases supports the use of sedation/analgesia (S/A) in newborns admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). To date, these practices have not been studied at a large scale.Objective: To determine current clinical practices regarding the use of S/A drugs in NICUs across Europe.Methods: This epidemiological observational study on bedside clinical practices regarding S/A collected data for all neonates in participating NICUs until the infant left the unit (discharge, death, transfer) or for up to 28 days. Data collection occurred via an online database for 1 month at each NICU. All neonates up to 44 weeks gestation were included.Results: From October 2012 to June 2013, 243 NICUs from 18 European countries collected data on 6680 eligible neonates. Of these, 2142 received tracheal ventilation (TV), 1496 non-invasive ventilation (NIV) and 3042 only spontaneous ventilation (SV). The median (IQR) gestational age of TV, NIV and SV neonates were 32.1 (28.1–37.4), 33.6 (31.0–36.6) and 37.9 (35.0–39.9), respectively (p < 0.001). Overall, more TV neonates [81.5% (n = 1746)] received S/A drugs than NIV neonates [17.8% (n = 266)] and SV neonates [9.3% (n = 282)]; p < 0.001. Fig. shows the rate of S/A use by country; table shows S/A drugs used.Conclusions: Most ventilated but few non-ventilated neonates (NIV and SV) receive S/A therapy in European NICUs. Wide variations in S/A use, drugs used, and mode of administration (continuous, bolus, or both) exist among countries.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Pediatrik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Pediatrics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Newborn

Pain

Sedation

Pediatrik

Pediatrics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)