title: Medication use in the neonatal intensive care unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the article is to provide an update on medication use in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in the United States and examine how use has changed over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective review (2005-2010) of a large prospectively collected administrative database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medications most commonly administered during the study period were ampicillin, gentamicin, caffeine citrate, vancomycin, beractant, furosemide, fentanyl, dopamine, midazolam, and calfactant (56-681 exposures per 1,000 infants). Those with the greatest relative increase in use included azithromycin, sildenafil, and milrinone. Medications with the greatest relative decrease in use included theophylline, metoclopramide, and doxapram.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Medication use in the NICU has changed substantially over time, and only 35% of the most commonly prescribed medications are Food and Drug Administration -approved in infants.
authors.affiliation: Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore.
authors.forename: Emily M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Christoph P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Hornik
authors.affiliation: Pediatrix-Obstetrix Center for Research and Education, Sunrise, Florida.
authors.forename: Reese H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Laughon
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Daniel K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Benjamin
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: P Brian
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States