Cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy monitoring to predict periventricular-intraventricular haemorrhage and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Periventricular-intraventricular haemorrhage (PV-IVH) is one of the major cause of mortality and long-term neurodevelopmental sequela in preterm infants born at less than 32 weeks of gestation. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring can detect brain tissue oxygen saturation changes before the occurrence of PV-IVH in the early postnatal period. However, the time window for NIRS monitoring, the absolute value or change value of brain tissue oxygen saturation, and the accuracy of NIRS in predicting PV-IVH and its neurodevelopmental outcomes has not been systematically reviewed. In this review, we will investigate the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity and accuracy) of NIRS in predicting PV-IVH, its severity and outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Literature will be searched in the PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases without limitation of region or time of publication. All published literature without language restrictions, including randomised/quasicontrolled trials and observational studies, will be considered. Studies providing index test values (the absolute value or change value of oxygen saturation using NIRS) will be included. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies (DTA) process will be followed for writing. The risk of bias will be assessed according to the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. The outcomes will be the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity and accuracy) of NIRS in predicting PV-IVH, long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes and infant mortality. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) tool will be used to evaluate the quality of the evidence. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: In this systematic review, data will be collected from published articles for collation and analysis, without a separate ethical review. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022316080.