Growth and risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome in infants with congenital surgical anomalies: a systematic review.

Survival of infants with congenital anomalies requiring surgical correction has increased dramatically, shifting the focus of clinical care and research toward optimising growth and neurodevelopment.To determine the impact of growth on neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants with congenital surgical anomalies. Studies that reported association of growth with developmental outcomes in infants with congenital anomalies who had surgery, were eligible for inclusion. The search strategy was prospectively drafted, and relevant studies were identified by electronic searches. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library 2022, issue 1), MEDLINE and EMBASE from their earliest date to February 2022 were searched. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Variability in selection of growth measures, developmental assessment tools and assessment endpoints for neurodevelopment, precluded a meta-analysis. Four studies reported the association between growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants with gastroschisis with two noting adverse outcomes in infants who were small for gestational age. Birthweight, reported in four studies, was not associated with adverse developmental outcomes. Postnatal growth, reported in three studies, was associated with adverse outcome. The data linking growth restriction in infants with congenital surgical anomalies and neurodevelopmental outcome is limited. There is limited published research examining the longitudinal effects of intra- and extra-uterine growth parameters on neurodevelopmental outcomes.