The number of pediatric opioid overdose patients admitted to children's hospitals nearly doubled between 2004 and 2015, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.
For the study, researchers assessed hospitalization data compiled in the Pediatric Health Information System at 31 children's hospitals between 2004-15. Researchers found the number of children hospitalized for opioid overdose increased from 797 patients in 2004-07 to 1,504 patients in 2012-15. Among the overdoses identified, 42.9 percent required admission to the pediatric intensive care unit and 1.6 percent resulted in death.
"When they come in, they're going to fall into one of two categories: either they're teenagers with intentional or drug-seeking behavior because of recreational or self-injurious behavior, or they're kids who got into their parents' medication," said Jason Kane, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics and critical care at Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago and a lead author on the study, according to CNN. "What was really striking to me is just how sick these kids are and that almost half of them end up in the ICU. The reason why that's important to recognize is that nationwide there's only about 4,100 pediatric ICU beds, which is in contrast to the number of adult ICU beds, which is closer to 78,000. So everytime [sic] you put a child in a pediatric ICU bed, you're using a very limited resource."
As efforts to reduce adult opioid overdoses have not led to fewer pediatric overdoses, the U.S. must take additional actions to reduce opioid exposure in children, the researchers concluded.
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