Alternative treatment approach for neonatal abstinence syndrome may shorten hospital stay
An abstract of the study, "A Novel Approach to Evaluating and Treating Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)," will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2017 Meeting in San Francisco on Sunday, May 7. An estimated 95 percent of U.S. hospitals use the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System (FNASS) to guide treatment, based on 21 symptoms of opioid withdrawal. These include tremors, seizures, excessive crying, diarrhea, vomiting, congestion, sneezing and other symptoms that can make it difficult for the baby to eat and sleep. Babies with severe symptoms are started on pharmacologic therapy, typically using the narcotics morphine or methadone . Researchers at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital examined whether more non-pharmacologic interventions for NAS in a modified approach called the Eat, Sleep, Console (ESC) model, such as providing a low-stimulation environment, having mothers room-in with their infants and feeding them frequently, cou...