ArticleJournal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association2003
Necrotizing enterocolitis and gastrointestinal complications after indomethacin therapy and surgical ligation in premature infants with patent ductus arteriosus.
Article in Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Use of NSAIDs and acetaminophen and risk of spontaneous intestinal perforations in premature infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- The efficiency and safety of low-dose intravenous indomethacin for closure of patent ductus arteriosus in preterm neonate: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Clinical Impact of the PDA and Its Management on Outcomes of Preterm Infants with NEC: A Review.American journal of perinatology · 2026Review
- Clinical Dilemma Involving Treatments for Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants and the Potential Risk of Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A Narrative Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- The severity of NEC is ameliorated by prostaglandin E2 through regulating intestinal microcirculation.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Extracardiac Complications in Intensive Care Units after Surgical Repair for Congenital Heart Disease: Imaging Review with a Focus on Ultrasound and Radiography.Journal of pediatric intensive care · 2021Review
- A quality improvement initiative to reduce necrotizing enterocolitis across hospital systems.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2018Article
- Patent ductus arteriosus ligation and adverse outcomes: causality or bias?Journal of clinical neonatology · 2014Review
- Does primary surgical closure of the patent ductus arteriosus in infants <1500 g or ≤32 weeks' gestation reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis?Paediatrics & child health · 2012Article
- What really causes necrotising enterocolitis?ISRN gastroenterology · 2012Article
- Gastrointestinal complications associated with ibuprofen therapy for patent ductus arteriosus.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2011Article
- Treatment of patent ductus arteriosus with bidirectional flow in neonates.Early human development · 2011Article
- Prenatal or postnatal indomethacin exposure and neonatal gut injury associated with isolated intestinal perforation and necrotizing enterocolitis.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2010Article
- Association of Escherichia coli O157:H7 with necrotizing enterocolitis in a full-term infant.Pediatric surgery international · 2009Article
- Article
- Repeated bowel perforations with Ibuprofen lysine: a case report.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2008Article
- Factors affecting successful closure of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus with indomethacin in extremely low birth weight infants.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2008Article
- Indomethacin prophylaxis or expectant treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in extremely low birth weight infants?Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2007Article
- Platelet transfusions in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis do not lower mortality but may increase morbidity.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2005Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIndomethacin is the most frequently used pharmacological agent for closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in premature infants. However, reports of complications, particularly, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and isolated gastrointestinal perforation have generated concerns about the use of this medication.
objectivesA retrospective study to compare the incidence of NEC, NEC-related gastrointestinal complications and isolated gastrointestinal perforation among premature infants treated for a PDA with either, indomethacin alone (I), surgical ligation alone (L), or indomethacin followed by surgical ligation (I-L).
methodsThe medical records of 224 infants that underwent treatment, either pharmacological or surgical, for a PDA, confirmed by echocardiography, over a 4-year period (1995 to 1998) were analyzed. Treatment history and gastrointestinal complications were reviewed.
resultsOf the 224 infants, 108 (48.2%) were treated with I, 50 (22.3%) by L, 66 (29.5%) with I-L. The clinical characteristics of the three treatment groups were similar and no differences in the incidence of NEC were observed between groups. NEC occurred in 14 (13%) of the I group, seven (14%) of the L group, and eight (12%) of the I-L group. The rate of NEC related gastrointestinal complications and isolated gastrointestinal perforation were also similar among groups.
conclusionIn this large retrospective study, indomethacin treatment for a significant PDA in premature infants was not associated with a greater risk for NEC or NEC-related gastrointestinal complications than surgical ligation.
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