Table 1.

Medications most commonly used in the NICU

Rank	Medication	Exposure*	Courses*	Days of use*
1	Ampicillin	681	709	3069
2	Gentamicin	676	785	3521
3	Caffeine citrate	156	199	3908
4	Vancomycin	91	150	987
5	Beractant	82	91	103
6	Furosemide	81	171	668
7	Fentanyl	70	86	677
8	Dopamine	62	77	327
9	Midazolam	61	71	679
10	Calfactant	56	66	72
11	Metoclopramide	54	63	706
12	Ranitidine	52	62	591
13	Poractant alpha	51	56	61
14	Morphine	51	62	527
15	Cefotaxime	43	53	316
16	Acetaminophen	43	48	241
17	Indomethacin	39	50	121
18	Phenobarbital	38	48	427
19	Albuterol	27	35	611
20	Epoietin alpha	26	30	631
21	Lorazepam	25	28	290
22	Hydrocortisone	25	32	290
23	Tobramycin	24	34	189
24	Erythromycin	24	25	103
25	Dobutamine	20	23	78
26	Dexamethasone	20	30	159
27	Fluconazole	19	23	321
28	Clindamycin	17	19	128
29	Palivizumab	17	17	24
30	Acyclovir	16	16	82
31	Vitamin A	15	15	363
32	Insulin	14	17	73
33	Ursodeoxycholic acid	14	18	259
34	Lansoprazole	14	15	106
35	Spironolactone	14	17	251
36	Chlorothiazide	12	16	230
37	Aminophylline	12	13	165
38	Ceftazidime	12	15	99
39	Alprostadil	12	12	22
40	Nitric oxide	11	12	82
41	Piperacillin/tazobactam	11	15	115
42	Epinephrine	11	12	25
43	Amoxicillin	11	12	72
44	Metronidazole	11	13	97
45	Oxacillin	10	14	67
46	Nafcillin	9.0	11	66
47	Amphotericin B products	8.9	11	99
48	Amikacin	8.8	12	77
49	Vecuronium	8.5	9.8	33
50	Ibuprofen	8.3	11	35
51	Cefazolin	7.5	8.1	27
52	Meropenem	7.0	8.9	82
53	Simethicone	6.9	7.2	59
54	Levothyroxine	6.7	7.2	157
55	Fluticasone	6.7	8.1	170
56	Budesonide	6.6	7.6	153
57	Phenylephrine	6.6	7.3	29
58	Omeprazole	6.5	7.0	64
59	Epinephrine racemic	6.3	7.4	20
60	Cefepime	6.1	7.7	58
61	Pancuronium	6.1	6.8	22
62	Famotidine	5.3	6.2	62
63	Methadone	5.2	6.1	86
64	Digoxin	5.1	5.7	28
65	Chloral hydrate	5.0	5.5	28
66	Penicillin G	4.7	4.9	38
67	Naloxone	4.3	4.4	4.7
68	Pentobarbital	4.3	4.7	49
69	Prednisone/prednisolone	4.2	5.2	47
70	Aluminum/magnesium hydroxide	4.2	4.7	27
71	Theophylline	4.1	5.0	102
72	Filgrastim	3.8	4.4	13
73	Hydrochlorothiazide	3.7	4.5	61
74	Rifampin	3.6	3.8	36
75	Propranolol	3.4	3.7	15
76	THAM acetate	3.1	4.0	5.2
77	Imipenem+cilastatin	3.0	3.3	29
78	Milrinone	2.9	3.0	15
79	Hyaluronidase	2.8	2.9	3.1
80	Bumetanide	2.8	3.8	26
81	Hydralazine	2.5	2.8	28
82	Surfactant (unknown type)	2.4	2.6	3.9
83	Captopril	2.3	2.6	24
84	Beclomethasone	2.1	2.8	32
85	Adenosine	2.1	2.5	4.0
86	Acetazolamide	2.1	3.7	24
87	Sodium polystyrene sulfonate	2.1	2.3	5.3
88	Diazepam	2.0	2.4	28
89	Zidovudine	1.9	2.0	15
90	Cephalexin	1.9	2.0	9.5
91	Ceftriaxone	1.8	1.8	5.7
92	Ipratropium	1.7	1.9	42
93	Dornase Alpha	1.6	2.2	16
94	Sulfamethoxazole+trimethoprim	1.6	1.8	16
95	Enalapril	1.5	1.8	13
96	Cefoxitin	1.5	1.6	4.9
97	Doxapram	1.4	2.0	25
98	Fosphenytoin	1.4	1.6	10
99	Sildenafil	1.4	1.6	27
100	Linezolid	1.3	1.6	14

^*Units for courses, exposure, and days of use, per 1000 infants.