Abstract
Journal of Neonatal Surgery is a peer-reviewed and open-access electronic journal. Only a few journals are being published on Neonatal Surgery especially from a developing country, which justifies the need of a new journal on this subject.
Highlights
A surgeon expects either necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) in preemies with pneumoperitoneum. There is another cause wherein the operative findings simulate meconium ileus [1]: The terminal ileum and colon are tiny and obstructed by inspissated meconium; The bowel proximal to the obstruction may be diffusely dilated, or there may be aneurysmal dilatation, which may be single or multiple; Resection with ileostomy is all that is attempted in these tiny, fragile babies; Surprisingly, when the ileostomy is closed 4-6 weeks later, the bowel appears to be normal, the obstruction has cleared and the caliber disparity has disappeared, which suggests that immaturity was causative of the obstruction and the occasional aneurysmal dilatation
Operating upon several premature babies with SIP, I have noted that the perforation sometimes occurs in a segment of the bowel with aneurysmal dilatation; this finding is associated with intra-luminal Journal of Neonatal Surgery | Year: 2021 | Volume: 10 | Page ID: 43 obstruction of the terminal ileum, an appearance simulating meconium ileus
This meconium obstruction of the newborn occurs in the same group of neonates who are subject to spontaneous intestinal perforation, and the same risk factors are seemingly operative: intestinal immaturity - poor motility, inadequate production of mucin, and the many other deficits that characterize low birth weight (LBW) infants. [2]
Summary
A surgeon expects either necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) in preemies with pneumoperitoneum. Meconium obstruction in a premature neonate: An etiology that may simulate spontaneous intestinal perforation
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