Gelofusine and NEC: a misleading conclusion

摘要

The Archimedes offering by Khashu and Balasubramaniam contains a serious error as well as a somewhat eccentric spelling of gelofusine. They suggest in their "Clinical bottom line" (bullet point 3) that "Weak evidence suggests an increased risk of necro-tising enterocolitis with use of Gelofuscine [sic] in neonates. (Grade B)". In fact there is no such evidence, weak or otherwise. Analysis 05.11 in Osborn and Evans' Cochrane review of 2004 (Khashu and Balasubramaniam, s reference 1) shows no difference in the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in infants treated with gelofusine when compared with placebo. Analysis 05.12 shows no difference in sepsis with gelofusine compared with no treatment.