Bedside newborn surgery: higher observed mortality, less frequent low body temperature during surgery
Deaths were more frequent in bedside surgery groups, while low body temperature during surgery was less frequent. Observational evidence cannot establish that surgical location caused the mortality difference.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Newborns having bedside surgery had higher observed mortality than those operated on in an operating room, alongside less frequent low body temperature during surgery. Several other outcomes showed no statistically clear differences. Because the evidence was observational and studies varied, the mortality comparison cannot determine whether surgical location or other differences explain the result.
The studies were observational and variable. The abstract gives no mortality follow-up periods and does not establish whether differences in illness severity explain the mortality gap.
What researchers found
Observed mortality by surgical setting
Bedside versus operating room groups across included studies; the difference was statistically significant, but the mortality observation period was unspecified.
Why the comparison is difficult
The review describes bedside surgery as an option for newborns considered unfit for transport. That clinical context matters in an observational comparison: the abstract does not establish that the groups had comparable underlying risks.
Other outcomes differed
Low body temperature during surgery was less frequent at the bedside. Surgical-site infections, low temperature after surgery, hospital stay and operation duration showed no statistically clear differences. Those findings do not establish equivalence between settings.
The original publication
Bedside vs Conventional Operating Room Surgery in Critically Ill Newborns: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Cassaro F, Impellizzeri P, Maiorana M et al.
J Pediatr Surg · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40553804
- Record checked
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