Prevalence of fentanyl in the pediatric postmortem population from 2019 to 2023

Abstract

For the past decade, illicitly manufactured fentanyl has been a primary contributor in drug overdose deaths regardless of age. The pediatric population is particularly vulnerable to fentanyl exposure, yet there are limited case reports involving this population. Postmortem cases from 2019 to 2023 were retrospectively analyzed to determine the prevalence of fentanyl in decedents between 0 and 12 years of age. Over this time frame, the fentanyl positivity rate increased from 2.6 to 6.2% (n = 632). The most commonly reported age group was 0–4 years, with a peak around 1 year of age for toddlers. Fentanyl concentrations in blood (n = 573) ranged from 0.19 to 360 ng/mL (mean 18 ng/mL, median 6.9 ng/mL). Polydrug use was present in 428 cases; midazolam (n = 96) and methamphetamine (n = 66) were the most common drugs found concurrently in blood with fentanyl, followed by markers of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, such as xylazine (n = 23), para-fluorofentanyl (n = 18), and acetyl fentanyl (n = 17). This report contrasts the differences in postmortem pediatric fentanyl toxicology results for three groups of case histories: likely medical intervention (n = 113), pregnancy/birth related (n = 136), and inadvertent/intentional exposure (n = 196). Overall, this study provides a retrospective review of postmortem pediatric fentanyl concentrations in a variety of biological matrices and highlights the need for comprehensive toxicology testing in postmortem pediatric casework.