Background characteristics, blood pressures, and inotropic therapy for the morphine and placebo groups
| Variable | Morphine (n = 71) | Placebo (n = 73) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where applicable, values are median (25th–75th centile). Unless indicated otherwise, p values were calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test (two sided). No significant differences were found between the background characteristics of the two groups. | |||
| *Calculated using the χ2 test. | |||
| CRIB, Clinical risk index for babies. | |||
| Background characteristics | |||
| Sex (boys/girls) | 40/31 | 43/30 | |
| In/outborn | 55/16 | 52/21 | |
| Gestational age (weeks) | 29.0 (27.4–31.8) | 29.1 (27.3–31.3) | |
| Birth weight (g) | 1100 (835–1655) | 1215 (910–1511) | |
| Postnatal age (h) | 9 (5–13) | 8 (5–12) | |
| Apgar 1 min | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–8) | |
| Apgar 5 min | 8 (7–9) | 8 (7–9) | |
| CRIB | 2 (1–6) | 3 (1–7) | |
| Duration of infusion (h) | 55 (23–97) | 46 (18–101) | |
| Patients receiving additional open label morphine | 21% | 27% | |
| Blood pressure | |||
| Baseline | |||
| Systolic | 43 (40–51) | 43 (39–48) | 0.43 |
| MAP | 33 (31–40) | 34 (30–37) | 0.43 |
| Diastolic | 27 (24–32) | 28 (23–32) | 0.67 |
| During study | |||
| Systolic | 44 (42–50) | 46 (43–51) | 0.22 |
| MAP | 36 (33–39) | 38 (35–41) | 0.11 |
| Diastolic | 28 (26–32) | 30 (27–34) | 0.06 |
| Inotropic therapy | |||
| Plasma expanders | 20% | 23% | |
| Dopamine | 3% | 5% | |
| Plasma expanders + dopamine | 17% | 14% | |
| Dopamine + dobutamine | 1% | 0% | |
| Plasma expanders + dopamine + dobutamine | 1% | 4% | |
| Hydrocortisone | 1% | 0% | |
| Noradrenaline | 0% | 1% | |
| Total | 44% | 48% | 0.87* |