Am J Perinatol 1988; 5(2): 131-133
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-999671
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

© 1988 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Gastrointestinal Perforations in the Neonatal Period

Oded Zamir, Shemuel C. Shapira, Raphael Udassin, Ofra Peleg, Ilan Arad, Shemuel Nissan
  • Department of Pediatric Surgery and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
04 March 2008 (online)

ABSTRACT

Forty-eight neonates were treated for gastrointestinal perforation during a 9-year period. In 30, perforation occurred within the first week of life. Thirty-six were preterm infants and many had a history of obstetric and postnatal complications. Perforation resulted from necrotizing enterocolitis in 26 patients, whereas in 14 neonates spontaneous perforation occurred in an apparently normal bowel, with no evident cause (idiopathic perforation). In 6 patients perforation was associated with meconium ileus. Primary closure was carried out for perforations of the duodenum and stomach. Intestinal perforations were usually treated by resection and enterostomies. The overall mortality rate in this series was 46%. The highest mortality rate was associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (62%). The mortality rate was only 14% in patients with idiopathic perforation. Despite improvement in the prognosis of neonatal gastrointestinal perforations in recent years, it is still discouraging, reflecting the difficulty in preventing and treating necrotizing enterocolitis.

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