Objective
To examine the clinical factors associated with increased opioid dose among mechanically ventilated children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
Design
Prospective, observational study with 100% accrual of eligible patients.
Setting
Seven PICUs from tertiary-care children’s hospitals in the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network.
Patients
419 children treated with morphine or fentanyl infusions.
Interventions
None
Measurements and Main Results
Data on opioid use, concomitant therapy, demographic and explanatory variables were collected. Significant variability occurred in clinical practices, with up to 100-fold differences in baseline opioid doses, average daily or total doses, or peak infusion rates. Opioid exposure for 7 or 14 days required doubling of the daily opioid dose in 16% patients (95%CI: 12–19%) and 20% patients (95%CI: 16–24%) respectively. Among patients receiving opioids for longer than 3 days (n=225), this occurred in 28% (95%CI 22–33%) and 35% (95%CI 29–41%) by 7 or 14 days respectively. Doubling of the opioid dose was more likely to occur following opioid infusions for 7 days or longer (OR 7.9, 95%CI 4.3–14.3; p<0.001) or co-therapy with midazolam (OR 5.6, 95%CI 2.4–12.9; p<0.001), and it was less likely to occur if morphine was used as the primary opioid (vs. fentanyl) (OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.25–0.92; p=0.03), for patients receiving higher initial doses (OR 0.96, 95%CI 0.95–0.98; p<0.001), or if patients had prior PICU admissions (OR 0.37, 95%CI 0.15–0.89, p=0.03).
Conclusions
Mechanically ventilated children require increasing opioid doses, often associated with prolonged opioid exposure or the need for additional sedation. Efforts to reduce prolonged opioid exposure and clinical practice variation may prevent the complications of opioid therapy.