What lab test can be ordered to confirm your suspected diagnosis?

You are called to a postpartum room and find Michael, a two-hour-old infant, irritable and spitting up copious amounts of formula. You do not know the maternal history, so you advise the mother that you would like to return the baby to the nursery for assessment and monitoring. In the medical record, you focus on the prenatal history and find the mother had an addiction to opioids with her last pregnancy but denied drug use with this pregnancy. You witness the baby having some significant tremors, vital signs: T (axillary) – 36.0, RR- 78, HR- 166, and the infant is alert, irritable, and does not console easily. The infant is constantly moving and sucking vigorously on the pacifier.

• What do you think is occurring with the infant?
• What lab test can be ordered to confirm your suspected diagnosis?
• What interventions can be implemented to treat this infant?

Sample Solution