Table 2.
Characteristics of included studies
| Author | Study characteristics | NEC patient characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study type | Neurodevelopmental outcome reported | Risk of Bias | Total number of participants | Number of participants with surgical NEC | Mean birth weight (g), | Mean gestational age (weeks) | Duration of follow-up | |
| Fullerton et al., (2018) [8] | Prospective cohort study | Bayley MDI or PDI, bilateral blindness, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy | Low | 9063 | 449 | Medical NEC 799 ± 162 Surgical NEC 752 ± 172 |
Medical NEC 26 ± 2 Surgical NEC 25 ± 2 |
18–24 months |
| Blakely et al., (2021) [28] | Prospective multicenter observational | Bayley MDI and PDI | Medium | 992 | 310 | Drain 711.4 Laparotomy 721.2 | Drain 24.9 Laparotomy 25.1 | 18–22 months |
| Humberg et al., (2020) [15] | Prospective multicenter cohort study | IQ scores, motor function | Low | 2241 | 43 | 810 ± 268 | NEC 26.3 | 6 years |
| Vaidya et al., (2022) [24] | Prospective longitudinal study | DAS-II, LPA, IQ, Wechsler abbreviated scale of intelligence-II, ADHD assessment Cerebral palsy, | Low | 1506 | 33 | N/A | 23–27 | 10 and 15 years |
| Merhar et al., (2014) [9] | Prospective study | Level of brain damage from Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging | Medium | 29 | 6 | All infants 925 Medical NEC 1150 Surgical NEC/SIP 790 | All infants 27.4 Medical NEC 27.4 Surgical NEC 26.1 | 40 weeks |
| Shah TA et al., (2011) [18] | Prospective cohort | WISC-III-NLM-ABC, MDI, and PDI, | Medium | 1722 | 121 | Medical NEC 769 Surgical NEC 753 | Medical NEC 26.1 Surgical NEC 25.7 | 18–22 months |
| Ayed et al., (2014) [27] | Retrospective multicenter study | Intraventricular haemorrhage, periventricular (IVH) leukomalacia (PVL) | Medium | 11,974 | 214 | Medical NEC 1113 Surgical NEC 941 | Medical NEC 27.5 Surgical NEC 26.4 | 36 weeks |
| Wadhawan et al., (2013) [14] | Retrospective cohort study | Bayley PDI and MDI Amiel-Tison assessment, cerebral palsy, hearing and visual impairment | Low | 9507 | 472 | Surgical NEC 736 | Surgical NEC 25.6 | 18–22 months |
| Hintz, (2005) [13] | Retrospective multicenter study | BSID-II, diagnosis of cystic periventricular leukomalacia, MDI, and PDI | Low | 2948 | 124 | 401–1000 | < 28 | 18–22 months |
| Ganapathy et al., (2013) [12] | Retrospective study | Neurodevelopmental delay, failure to thrive, cerebral palsy | High | 3159 | 73 | N/A | N/A | 6–12 months |
| Adesanya et al., (2005) [16] | Retrospective observational cohort study | Bayley score-II, PDI and MDI | Medium | 1357 | 39 | < 1500, NEC 841 ± 212 | 26 ± 2 | 12 months |
| Martin et al., (2010) [30] | Retrospective cohort study | BSID-II, Gross Motor Functional Classification System, developmental dysfunction and microcephaly association | Medium | 1155 | 42 | N/A | 23–27 | 24 months |
| Shah et al., (2011) [18] | Retrospective cohort study | BSID-II, incidence of IVH, PDA, PVL | Medium | 865 | 32 | Surgical NEC 753 Medical NEC 769 | Medical NEC 26.1 Surgical NEC 25.7 | 18–22 months |
| Han et al., (2020) [29] | Prognosis study | Neurodevelopmental disability | Medium | 268 | 268 | 930 | 28 | 8 years |
| Garg et al., (2021) [6] | Retrospective study | Bayley’s BSID-III, MDI, PDI, WBMI on MRI scans | Medium | 243 | 121 | 927 ± 484 | 26.5 ± 2.7 | 24 months |
| Arnold et al., (2010) [19] | Retrospective review | Neurodevelopmental delay, auditory deficit, visual impairment | Medium | 128 | 119 | 1413 | 32 | 39 months |
| Roze et al., (2011) [20] | Retrospective case–control study | WISC-III-NL, IQ level, cerebral palsy, motor and behavioural impairment | Low | 93 | 17 | Medical NEC 1100 Surgical NEC 1411 SIP 1173 control 1220 | 28.9 | 6–13 years |
| Shin et al., 2021) [31] | Retrospective single centre study | Bayley-III, K-ASQ, K-DST Gross motor, fine motor, cognitive and social domains | Low | 82 | 60 | Surgical NEC 710 | Surgical NEC 26.6 | 24 and 36 months |
| Cuzzilla et al., (2014) [11] | Retrospective chart audit | Bayley score-III and ASQ | High | 45 | 45 | Surgical NEC < 1500 | N/A | 18–24 months |
| Allendorf et al., (2018) [26] | Retrospective matched-control study | Bayley score-II, PDI and MDI | Medium | 37 | 24 | 1039 | Medical NEC 28 Surgical NEC 27 | 24 months |
| Muto et al., (2021) [21] | Retrospective study | K test | Medium | 978 | 31 | 649.8 | 24.5 | 1.5 years corrected age / 3 years chronological age |
| Mondal et al., (2021) [17] | Retrospective study | Cognitive impairment, motor impairment, speaking difficulties, cerebral palsy, behavioural, visual impairment, seizures | Low | 18 | 15 | N/A | N/A | 11.2 years |
MDI Mental Developmental Index, PDI Psychomotor Developmental Index, IQ Intelligence Quotient, DAS-II Differential Ability Scales II, LPA Latent Profile Analysis, WISC-III-NL Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, M-ABC Movement Assessment Battery for Children, IVH Intraventricular Haemorrhage, PVL Periventricular Leukaemia, BSID-II K-ASQ, Korean Ages and Stages Questionnaire; K-DST, Korean Developmental Screening Test, ASQ, Ages and Stage Analysis; K test, Kyoto Scale of Physiological Development