SynthesisPediatric research2025
Methods of identifying surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis-a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pediatric research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Surgical Interventions for NEC-An Overview.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- An Eight-Parameter Summary of Clinical Findings Associated with Surgical Intervention in Infants with Necrotizing Enterocolitis Without Radiographic Pneumoperitoneum.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Necrotizing enterocolitis.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Article
- [Recent advances in predicting the surgical timing for neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2026Review
- Surgical Necrotising Enterocolitis (S-NEC): Where We Stand Today: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Does timing of surgery make the difference in outcomes for preterm infants with NEC?Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Hematologic Inflammatory Indices Predict Mortality in Surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis Among Premature Infants.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota profiling for risk stratification of surgical intervention in preterm infants with necrotizing enterocolitis: a retrospective cohort study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Serum TNF-α as an indicator reflecting the severity of intestinal barrier injury in a neonatal rat model of necrotizing enterocolitis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Outcomes of primary intestinal anastomosis versus stoma in necrotizing enterocolitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Surgery in practice and science · 2025Review
- Analysis of risk factors and establishment of a predictive model for brain injury in neonates with surgical necrotizing enterocolitis: a retrospective study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Surgeons and neonatologists views about surgical decision-making in necrotising enterocolitis.Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2025Article
- Predicting surgical NEC in neonates: risk factors and model development.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Article
- Dysbiotic Microbiota in Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Insights into Pathogenesis, Treatment, and Prevention.Gastroenterology clinics of North America · 2025Review
- Necrotizing enterocolitis: perspectives from a population-based study.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Detection of an intestinal cell DNA methylation signature in blood samples from neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis.Epigenomics · 2025Article
- Predictive value of biomarkers in neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCurrent data suggests potential benefit of earlier surgery for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) however this requires accurate prognostication early in the disease course. This study aims to identify and determine the effectiveness of previously reported methods or tests for the identification of surgical NEC.
methodsSystematic review and meta-analysis with registration on PROSPERO including articles describing a method of identifying surgical NEC. Outcomes of interest were effectiveness and repeatability of index test.
resultsOf the 190 full-text articles screened, 90 studies were included which contained 114 methods of identifying surgical NEC in 9546 infants. Of these methods, 44 were a scoring system, 37 a single biomarker, 24 an imaging method, and 9 an invasive method. Sensitivity and specificity ranged from 12.8-100% to 13-100%, respectively. Some methods (9.6%) provided insufficient methods for repeatability within clinical practice or research. Meta-analyses were possible for only 2 methods, the metabolic derangement 7 score and abdominal ultrasound.
conclusionsA range of methods for identifying surgical NEC have been identified with varying overall performance and uncertainties about reproducibility and superiority of any method. External validation in large multicentre datasets should allow direct comparison of accuracy and prospective study should evaluate impact on clinical outcomes. IMPACT: Earlier identification of need for surgery in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has the potential to improve the unfavourable outcomes in this condition. As such, many methods have been developed and reported to allow earlier identification of surgical NEC. This study is the first synthesis of the literature which identifies previously reported methods and the effectiveness of these. Many methods, including scoring systems and biomarkers, appear effective for prognostication in NEC and external validation is now required in multicentre datasets prior to clinical utility.
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