Anesthetics

Medication Use in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Changes from 2010 to 2018

Posted on by Kayla Korzekwinski

The Journal of Pediatrics • January 2022

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Stark A, Smith PB, Hornik CP, Zimmerman KO, Hornik CD, Pradeep S, Clark RH, Benjamin DK, Laughon M, Greenberg RG.

The goal of this study was to provide up-to-date medication prescribing patterns in US neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and to examine trends in prescribing patterns over time. The most frequently prescribed medications included ampicillin, gentamicin, caffeine citrate, poractant alfa, morphine, vancomycin, furosemide, fentanyl, midazolam, and acetaminophen. Of the top 50 medications used in infants with extremely low birth weight, only 20 (40%) are FDA-labeled for use in infants. Trends of medication use in the NICU change substantially over time. It is imperative to identify changes in medication use in the NICU to better inform further prospective studies.

Use of Electronic Health Records to Identify Exposure-Response Relationships in Critically Ill Children: An Example of Midazolam and Delirium

Posted on by Kayla Korzekwinski

Journal of Pediatric Intensive Care • March 2021

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Zimmerman KO, Spears T, Cobbaert M, Boakye-Agyeman F, Wu H, Cohen-Wolkowiez M, Watt KM, Benjamin DK, Becker ML, Traube C, Smith PB

Adverse drug events are common in critically ill children and often result from systemic or target organ drug exposure. Methods of drug dosing and titration that consider pharmacokinetic alterations may improve our ability to optimally dose critically ill patients and reduce the risk for drug-related adverse events. To demonstrate this possibility, this study explored the exposure-response relationship between midazolam and delirium in critically ill children.