Aromatherapy as an adjunctive therapy for neonatal abstinence syndrome: A pilot study.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2020
Identifier
DOI: 10.5055/jom.2020.0558
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine if aromatherapy added to the current standard of care for opioid withdrawal syndrome decreases hospitali-zation and need for opioid replacement in neonates.
DESIGN: Nonblinded, randomized control trial.
SETTING: Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: Thirty eight patients met inclusion criteria of greater than or equal to 36 weeks of gestation, history of in-trauterine opioid exposure, primary diagnosis of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), and parental permission to participate.
INTERVENTIONS: Infants were randomized to either a standard therapy group or a standard therapy plus aromatherapy.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Duration of therapy and length of stay.
RESULTS: Our pilot study showed that the use of aromatherapy in conjunction with standard therapy reduced the duration of medica-tion treatment by 41 percent and hospital length of stay in the NICU by 36 percent.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of aromatherapy appears to help mitigate symptoms of NAS and offers to be a viable treatment modality when used with conventional therapy.
Journal Title
J Opioid Manag
Volume
16
Issue
2
First Page
119
Last Page
125
Recommended Citation
Daniel JM, Davidson LN, Havens JR, Bauer JA, Shook LA. Aromatherapy as an adjunctive therapy for neonatal abstinence syndrome: A pilot study. J Opioid Manag. 2020;16(2):119-125. doi:10.5055/jom.2020.0558
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