Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25357093›Full record

Trial reportJournal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association2015

Methadone versus morphine for treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

M S Brown, M J Hayes, L M Thornton

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04455802 (Prospective Randomized Blinded Trial to Shorten Pharmacologic Treatment of Newborns With Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome), which is not on this map. Cited by 40 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
15.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT04455802 phase3withdrawnnot on this mapstarted 2020, after this paper: background citation

Prospective Randomized Blinded Trial to Shorten Pharmacologic Treatment of Newborns With Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS)

TypeinterventionalSponsorWomen and Infants Hospital of Rhode IslandRan2020 to 2021Enrolled0ConditionsNeonatal Opioid Withdrawal SyndromeArmsBuprenorphine or Placebo, Morphine or Placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 98 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Opioid treatment for opioid withdrawal in newborn infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Therapeutic approaches for neonatal abstinence syndrome: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials.Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences · 2019
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. A Review of Neonatal Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Withdrawal Syndrome.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome: a review of the science and a look toward the use of buprenorphine for affected infants.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2022
    Review
  16. Multilevel factors associated with length of stay for neonatal abstinence syndrome in Florida's NICUs: 2010-2015.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2021
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Opioids: A Review of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics in Neonates, Infants, and Children.European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics · 2019
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

M S BrownDepartment of Pediatrics, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, ME, USA.
M J HayesDepartment of Psychology & Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA.
L M ThorntonDepartment of Pharmacy, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, ME, USA.
Eastern Maine Medical Center · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveCompare duration of treatment of neonatal abstinence syndrome between methadone and morphine. STUDY

designA prospective, double-masked, randomized trial at a single site. Randomization of methadone or morphine was stratified for maternal treatment with methadone or buprenorphine. Inclusion criteria were (i) maternal treatment with prescribed methadone or buprenorphine, (ii) withdrawal treatment criteria, (iii) adjusted gestational age ⩾35(0/7) weeks and (iv) medically stable. Primary outcome was length of opioid treatment.

resultFrom January 2011 through October 2012, 78 infants were eligible for the study: 41 methadone-exposed and 37 buprenorphine-exposed. Consent was obtained from 31 mothers, 13/41 (32%) methadone-treated and 18/37 (49%) buprenorphine-treated. Length of opioid treatment was significantly shorter for methadone than morphine treatment, median 14 versus 21 days (P=0.008).

conclusionMethadone had a shorter length of neonatal withdrawal treatment compared with morphine. Owing to the smaller sample size and single site, a larger randomized study is needed.

Indexed as

Analgesics, OpioidBirth WeightBuprenorphineDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGestational AgeHumansInfant, NewbornLength of StayMaleMethadoneMorphineNeonatal Abstinence SyndromeProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeAnalgesics, OpioidBuprenorphineMethadoneMorphine

Identifiers

PMID25357093
OpenAlexW2005498024

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.