ArticleBrain sciences2014
The neurodevelopmental impact of neonatal morphine administration.
Article in Brain sciences, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pharmacological interventions for the prevention of pain during endotracheal suctioning in ventilated neonates.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for the prevention of pain during endotracheal suctioning in ventilated neonates.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Intravenous acetaminophen for postoperative pain control after open abdominal and thoracic surgery in pediatric patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric surgery international · 2022Pooled it
- A Neonatal Nurse-Controlled Model of Analgesia to Manage Post-Operative Pain in the Surgical Neonate: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Trial
- Continuous local anaesthetic wound infusion of bupivacaine for postoperative analgesia in neonates: a randomised control trial (CANWIN Study).BMJ paediatrics open · 2022Trial
- Pharmacokinetics of morphine in encephalopathic neonates treated with therapeutic hypothermia.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Association between sedation-analgesia and neurodevelopment outcomes in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2018Trial
- Dexmedetomidine use in Infants undergoing Cooling due to neonatal Encephalopathy (DICE trial): safety and pharmacokinetics.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Tiny doses, big impact: Optimizing sedation weaning to reduce opioid use in a Level IV NICU.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- The effect of using dexmedetomidine versus morphine as sedation on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of encephalopathic neonates undergoing therapeutic hypothermia.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Observational
- Repetitive daily oxytocin treatment reduces weight gain but not acute neonatal procedural pain.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Neonatal exposure to morphine results in prolonged pain hypersensitivity during adolescence, driven by gut microbial dysbiosis and gut-brain axis-mediated inflammation.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Dexmedetomidine: Shifting Paradigms in Neonatal Sedation and Pain Control.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Improved Post-Operative Outcomes and Reduced Narcotic Use With ERAS Protocol in a Pediatric Ambulatory Surgery Setting.Paediatric & neonatal pain · 2025Article
- Treatment for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Using Nonpharmacological Interventions.American journal of perinatology · 2024Observational
- Actigraphy: An Adjunctive Method to Measure Irritability in Opioid-Exposed Newborns.Journal of nursing measurement · 2024Article
- Oral Clonidine-Based Strategy to Reduce Opiate Use During Cooling for Neonatal Encephalopathy: An Observational Study.The Journal of pediatrics · 2024Observational
- Chronic Opioid Treatment Arrests Neurodevelopment and Alters Synaptic Activity in Human Midbrain Organoids.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Is opioid-free analgesia the first tier choice in anesthesia for cesarean delivery?Journal of anesthesia · 2023Article
- Analgesia and sedation strategies in neonates undergoing whole-body therapeutic hypothermia: A scoping review.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Medical management of newborn infants often necessitates recurrent painful procedures, which may alter nociceptive pathways during a critical developmental period and adversely effect neuropsychological outcomes. To mitigate the effects of repeated painful stimuli, opioid administration for peri-procedural analgesia and ICU (intensive care unit) sedation is common in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). A growing body of basic and animal evidence suggests potential long-term harm associated with neonatal opioid therapy. Morphine increases apoptosis in human microglial cells, and animal studies demonstrate long-term changes in behavior, brain function, and spatial recognition memory following morphine exposure. This comprehensive review examines existing preclinical and clinical evidence on the long-term impacts of neonatal pain and opioid therapy.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.