Drug-of-Abuse Testing in the Neonate

Abstract

DRUG ABUSE I S A MAJOR psychiatric problem in the U.S.1The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Substance Abuse notes that increasing numbers of women are reported to use licit and illicit substances during pregnancy.2Statistical data are insufficient because of the difficulty in obtaining accurate information from a medical history, but as many as one in ten infants has been estimated to have been exposed to illicit drugsin utero. The reported incidence is higher in inner-city hospitals.3Some of these infants are known to be experiencing complications related to drug exposure during the neonatal period. Others may be sent home with undetected problems. Long-term health and well-being of the infant and family may be negatively influenced by the lack of identification of drug exposure. This concern has prompted increased efforts to identify the exposed infant and the substance to which the infant was exposed.