SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022
Long-Term Safety of Prenatal and Neonatal Exposure to Paracetamol: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maternal paracetamol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring: umbrella review of systematic reviews.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Pooled it
- Prenatal paracetamol exposure and wheezing in infancy: a targeted maximum likelihood estimation application.BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Article
- Acetaminophen and pregnancy: common exposure, potential placental impact.Journal of animal science · 2026Review
- Pharmacological therapy of neonatal analgosedation: current status, dilemmas, and perspectives.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Postnatal acetaminophen exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18-21 months corrected gestational age in preterm infants <29 weeks gestation: a retrospective cohort study.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Acetaminophen causes neurodevelopmental injury in susceptible babies and children: no valid rationale for controversy.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2024Article
- Early neurodevelopmental outcomes of extreme preterm infants exposed to paracetamol: a retrospective cohort study.Pediatric research · 2023Observational
- Acetaminophen for the patent ductus arteriosus: has safety been adequately demonstrated?Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2023Review
- Maturation of Paracetamol Elimination Routes in Preterm Neonates Born Below 32 Weeks of Gestation.Pharmaceutical research · 2023Article
- Maternal prenatal paracetamol ingestion and scholastic attainments of the offspring.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- The relationship of prenatal acetaminophen exposure and attention-related behavior in early childhood.Neurotoxicology and teratologyArticle
- Emergency department pain management in special populations.Turkish journal of emergency medicineReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionParacetamol is the most commonly used antipyretic and analgesic in pregnancy. It is also increasingly used off-label in the neonatal intensive care unit. Despite the frequent use of paracetamol, concerns have been raised regarding the high variability in neonatal dosing regimens and the long-term safety of early life exposure.
objectiveTo investigate the available evidence on the long-term safety of prenatal and neonatal paracetamol exposure.
methodsWe conducted a systematic search of the electronic databases Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase and Web of Science from inception to August 2021 for original research studies of any design that described the use of paracetamol in the prenatal or neonatal (within the first four weeks of life) periods and examined the occurrence of neurodevelopmental, atopic or reproductive adverse outcomes at or beyond birth.
resultsWe identified 1313 unique articles and included 30 studies in the final review. Of all studies, 27 (90%), two (7%) and one (3%) were on the long-term safety of prenatal, neonatal and both prenatal and neonatal exposure, respectively. Thirteen (46%), 11 (39%) and four (15%) studies examined neurodevelopmental, atopic and reproductive outcomes. Eleven (100%), 11 (100%), and three (27%) studies on prenatal exposure reported adverse neurodevelopmental, atopic and reproductive outcomes. Only one study found a possible correlation between neonatal paracetamol exposure and long-term adverse outcomes.
conclusionsThe available evidence, although limited, suggests a possible association between prenatal paracetamol exposure and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental, atopic and reproductive adverse outcomes. There is an immediate need for robust data on the long-term safety of paracetamol exposure in the prenatal and neonatal periods.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.