SynthesisPediatric radiology2018
Bowel ultrasound for predicting surgical management of necrotizing enterocolitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pediatric radiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- International evidence-based guidelines on Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) for critically ill neonates and children issued by the POCUS Working Group of the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (ESPNIC).Critical care (London, England) · 2020Guideline
- Value of abdominal ultrasound in management of necrotizing enterocolitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric surgery international · 2018Pooled it
- Photoacoustic imaging of intestinal physiological biomarkers in infants and children.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Ultrasound-based nomogram for predicting high-risk hepatic portal venous gas in children: a retrospective cohort study.Translational pediatrics · 2026Article
- The role of abdominal ultrasound in surgical decision making for necrotizing enterocolitis.Journal of neonatal-perinatal medicine · 2026Review
- The latest research progress of ultrasound technology in the diagnosis of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: A review.Medicine · 2026Review
- Imaging and Non-Imaging Approaches for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Necrotizing Enterocolitis-What Lies Ahead?Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Diagnosis and Staging of Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Current Controversies and a Phenotype-Based Framework.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Necrotizing enterocolitis.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Hypoxic-ischemic enterocolitis in extremely low birth weight infants: diagnostic insights from a pilot study.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in urgent and emergent pediatric conditions: a comprehensive review.Emergency radiology · 2026Review
- Transfer learning prediction of surgical necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants without pneumoperitoneum on abdominal X-ray.Translational pediatrics · 2026Article
- [Ultrasound diagnosis of necrotizing enterocolitis in neonates].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2026Article
- Current operative approaches for necrotizing enterocolitis.World journal of pediatric surgery · 2026Review
- Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Confirm Gastric Tube Placement in Preterm Infants: A Qualitative Study.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
- Comparison of bedside abdominal ultrasonography and abdominal radiography in predicting surgical intervention in neonatal necrotising enterocolitis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Commentary: How to incorporate bowel ultrasound as a part of the routine care of neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis.Pediatric radiology · 2025Article
- Gastrointestinal emergencies and monitoring in preterm infants: a review.Annals of medicine · 2025Review
- Review
- Predicting surgical NEC in neonates: risk factors and model development.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNecrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating inflammatory disease of the intestinal tract that represents a significant source of morbidity and mortality in preterm infants. Imaging of the abdomen is valuable for timely diagnosis and close monitoring of disease progression in NEC. Bowel ultrasound (US) is increasingly being recognized as an important imaging tool for evaluating NEC that provides additional detail than plain abdominal radiographs.
objectiveTo identify bowel US findings associated with surgical management or death in infants with NEC. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe searched Embase, PubMed, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature for studies investigating the association between bowel US findings and surgical management or death in NEC. Selected articles were evaluated for quality of study methodology using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, and aggregate statistics for odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval were calculated.
resultsOf 521 articles reviewed, 11 articles comprising 748 infants were evaluated for quality. Nine of the studies were retrospective and from single-center experiences. Pooled analysis showed that focal fluid collections (OR 17.9, 3.1-103.3), complex ascites (OR 11.3, 4.2-30.0), absent peristalsis (OR 10.7, 1.7-69.0), pneumoperitoneum (OR 9.6, 1.7-56.3), bowel wall echogenicity (OR 8.6, 3.4-21.5), bowel wall thinning (OR 7.11.6-32.3), absent perfusion (OR 7.0, 2.1-23.8), bowel wall thickening (OR 3.9, 2.4-6.1) and dilated bowel (OR 3.5, 1.8-6.8) were associated with surgery or death in NEC. In contrast, portal venous gas (OR 3.0, 0.8-10.6), pneumatosis intestinalis (OR 2.1, 0.9-5.1), increased bowel perfusion (OR 2.6, 0.6-11.1) and simple ascites (OR 0.54, 0.1-2.5) were not associated with surgery or death.
conclusionThis meta-analysis identified several bowel US findings that are associated and not associated with surgery or death in NEC. Bowel US may be useful for early identification of high-risk infants with NEC who may benefit from more aggressive treatment, including surgery. Future studies are needed to determine whether the addition of bowel US in NEC evaluation would improve outcomes.
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