SynthesisJournal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association2025
Effectiveness of oral dextrose gel for neonates at risk of hypoglycemia: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and GRADE assessment of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of Oral Dextrose Gel for Neonatal Hypoglycaemia: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials With 4368 Patients.Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism · 2026Pooled it
- Oral glucose solution for the treatment of persistent asymptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Trial
- Term neonatal admissions for hypoglycaemia in England and Wales, 2012-2020: a population-based study using the National Neonatal Research Database.Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2026Article
- Methodological flaws in a meta-analysis compromise the integrity of the evidence.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Neonatal hypoglycemia is the most common metabolic disorder in newborns and can lead to neurological damage if untreated. While intravenous dextrose is the standard treatment, it is invasive. Oral 40% dextrose gel (0.5 ml/kg) offers a non-invasive alternative. A systematic review of five randomized controlled trials (RCTs), involving 2,742 neonates (1,326 received dextrose gel; 1,416 received placebo), assessed its effectiveness in reducing NICU admissions in neonates with blood glucose < 2.6 mmol/L. Although the overall meta-analysis showed a non-significant reduction in NICU admissions (risk ratio 0.68; 95% CI: 0.33-1.38; p = 0.28), a sensitivity analysis excluding one outlier study improved consistency (I² = 19%) and revealed a statistically significant reduction (risk ratio 0.52; 95% CI: 0.31-0.90; p = 0.02). These findings suggest that oral dextrose gel may reduce NICU admissions in neonates with hypoglycemia, but further large-scale studies are required to confirm its clinical effectiveness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40836118What OpenQuestion holds
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.