September 11, 2020 – Medtronic plc (Dublin, Ireland) announced the publication of primary data from PRODIGY (PRediction of Opioid-induced respiratory Depression In patients monitored by capnoGraphY), a Medtronic-sponsored, prospective observational, multi-center study to quantify the incidence and identify patients at high risk of opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD), a potentially life-threatening form of respiratory compromise that may impede breathing.
Conclusions from the study data enabled the development of the PRODIGY Risk Score, an easy-to-use risk prediction tool to identify patients at high risk of respiratory depression who would benefit from continuous monitoring with capnography and pulse oximetry.
Currently, there are no universally accepted guidelines to direct effective and safe assessment and monitoring practices for patients receiving in-hospital opioid analgesia. In addition to providing insight into the rate of respiratory depression, a key objective of PRODIGY was to develop and validate an accurate and easy-to-use risk assessment scoring tool.
The study, which analyzed 1,335 patients across 16 sites in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, found that respiratory depression, as defined by changes in pulse oximetry and capnography monitoring parameters, occurred in 46% of medical and surgical patients evaluated who were receiving IV opioids for pain. This incidence rate is significantly higher than previously reported in clinical literature.