Purpose

The objective of this study is to determine if tAN therapy can reduce the median number of days of oral morphine administered to an infant after start of treatment.

Conditions

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 33 Weeks and 1 Year
Eligible Genders
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  1. Neonates or infants >33 weeks gestational age with NOWS who have withdrawal scores requiring morphine replacement therapy 2. Clinically stable without respiratory support (exception for nasal cannula) 3. Congenital syndromes may be included if the infants do not have major, unrepaired anomalies

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Unstable infants 2. Repeated episodes of autonomic instability (apnea or bradycardia) which are not self-resolving 3. Major unrepaired congenital anomalies impacting respiratory or cardiovascular system 4. Cardiomyopathy 5. Abnormal ear anatomy preventing the device to fit 6. Infants diagnosed with iatrogenic NOWS 8. Neonates who have received more than 6 methadone doses or 24 hours of methadone dosing 9. Infants who are wards of the state 10. Participant has any other significant disease or disorder which, in the opinion of the Investigator, may either put the participants at risk because of participation in the trial, or may influence the result of the trial, or the participant's ability to participate in the trial

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
This study is designed as a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, multi-center, clinical trial in which neonates diagnosed with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) will be randomized 1:1 into one of two treatment groups.
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking Description
Each clinical site will have NICU nurses that will perform the Finnegan scale and be blind to the subjects' group designation. This will ensure a non-biased assessment of the Finnegan score, and importantly morphine dosing. Information regarding study intervention will be withheld from the blinded NICU nurses. NNNS assessors will also be blinded to information regarding study intervention to prevent biased NNNS scoring. All investigators will be blinded to subject treatment group.

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Active tAN + Morphine
  • Device: Sparrow Fledging Therapy System
    tAN sessions will be administered up to four times per day for up to 20 days total. Active tAN will be set to run for 30 minutes one hour prior to each planned morphine dose. When the 30-minute tAN session is complete, the system will be turned off and unplugged.
Sham Comparator
Sham tAN + Morphine
  • Device: Sham Sparrow Fledging Therapy System
    Participants randomized to the sham group will have the device earpiece applied at the same timepoints and for the same duration as the active group, but stimulation will not be turned on. tAN sessions will be administered up to four times per day for up to 20 days total. Sham tAN will be set to run for 30 minutes one hour prior to each planned morphine dose. When the 30-minute tAN session is complete, the system will be turned off and unplugged.

Recruiting Locations

University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas 78229
Contact:
Kaivalya Tallam
tallamk@uthscsa.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Spark Biomedical, Inc.

Study Contact

Caroline Benner
8179332727
caroline.benner@sparkbiomedical.com

Detailed Description

This study is designed as a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, multi-center, clinical trial in which neonates diagnosed with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) will be randomized 1:1 into one of two treatment groups: 1. Group 1: Active tAN + Morphine 2. Group 2: Sham tAN + Morphine Morphine dosing for all infants will be managed by using the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System (FNASS), recorded every three hours. After the participant exits the inpatient treatment phase of the study, they will enter the neurodevelopmental follow-up phase. The participant's parent or legal guardian will be contacted at 3, 9, 18, and 24 months of age to complete the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) and the Sensory Profile 2 (SP-2). At 24 months, participants who fail in any sub-domain will be referred to their primary care physician for further neurodevelopmental assessment using the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development III (BSID-III) or other neurodevelopmental assessment.

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.