ABSTRACT Objective To compare in-hospital outcomes between small-for-gestational-age and appropriate-for-gestational-age preterm neonates who needed intensive care. Methods A retrospective cohort study with preterm newborns, from January to December 2017. The results are presented as median, frequency, and odds ratio. Numerical variables were compared using the Wilcoxon test. Categorical variables were compared using the χ2 test. We considered p