Symptom-Based Dosing for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal

Importance Infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) who receive pharmacologic treatment are traditionally treated with a scheduled opioid taper. An alternate approach, symptom-based dosing, may better align treatment with withdrawal severity. Objective To compare time from birth to medical readiness for discharge for infants with moderate to severe withdrawal treated with either a symptom-based dosing or scheduled opioid taper approach. Design, Setting, and Participants In this cluster, crossover randomized clinical trial with run-in period, 23 US hospitals cared for infants using the Eat, Sleep, Console approach (ESC) or Finnegan-based care (a comprehensive scoring system to quantify severity of symptoms; 15 ESC and 8 Finnegan hospitals) and their preferred primary opioid. Opioid dosing was guided by study-approved, site-specific algorithms. Infants with NOWS with a gestational age at birth of at least 36 weeks and at risk for pharmacologic treatment were enrolled between March 25, 2024, and April 9, 2025, with the last 3-month assessment on July 15, 2025. Sample size analyses were conducted between August 1, 2024, and September 23, 2024. Intervention Sites were randomized to 1 of 2 sequences: (1) symptom-based dosing followed by scheduled opioid taper or (2) scheduled opioid taper followed by symptom-based dosing. Main Outcome and Measure Time from birth to medical readiness for discharge. Results Of the 626 enrolled infants (mean [SD] gestational age, 38 [1] weeks; 49% male), 383 were cared for with ESC (primary outcome cohort). The mean time to medical readiness for discharge was significantly shorter in the symptom-based dosing group compared with the scheduled opioid taper group (9.18 vs 11.61 days; adjusted mean ratio [aMR], 0.79 [95% CI, 0.65-0.96]). There was no difference in the risk for initiation of pharmacologic treatment (0.4 vs 0.41; adjusted risk ratio, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.77-1.27]) or length of stay (10.91 vs 12.09 days; aMR, 0.9 [95% CI, 0.72-1.13]) between groups. For infants in the symptom-based group, 35% (95% CI, 25%-45%) required scheduled opioid dosing due to withdrawal severity that was not controlled with intermittent dosing. In the Finnegan cohort (n = 243; planned secondary outcome), there were no significant differences in time to medical readiness for discharge (15.99 vs 17.56 days; aMR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.72-1.15]) or length of stay (17.38 vs 19.39 days; aMR, 0.9 [95% CI, 0.69-1.16]). The inpatient composite safety outcome occurred rarely (in the ESC cohort, 3 of 188 in the symptom-based dosing vs 2 of 195 in the scheduled opioid taper groups). Conclusions and Relevance Symptom-based dosing decreased time to medical readiness for discharge compared with a scheduled opioid taper approach among infants cared for with ESC. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05980260