Necrotising Enterocolitis in Premature Infant

0
Necrotising Enterocolitis
Source: The New England Journal of Medicine

Case of severe abdominal distension in premature female infant.

This article describes the case of a female infant who presented with necrotising enterocolitis 6 weeks after premature birth. The female infant developed severe abdominal distension while admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The infant weighed 520 g at birth and was born at 23 weeks of gestation. An emergency cesarean section had to be performed because of rupture of membranes. Her paediatrician put her on enteral feedings and parenteral nutrition. She was growing well with the combination. In addition, her doctor advised a plain radiography to evaluate the abdominal distension. The radiograph was remarkable of dilated loops of small bowel. Whereas abdominal ultrasound revealed possible perforation. Furthermore, an exploratory laparotomy confirmed the diagnosis of necrotising enterocolitis.

Necrotising enterocolitis

Necrotising enterocolitis is describes as an inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, resulting in bowel necrosis and perforation. It is a cause of complications and death in neonates, especially premature infants.

Treatment included resection of the affected bowel segment with an ileostomy. The infant underwent an ileostomy reversal four months after the procedure. She had an uneventful recovery and was able to fully feed by mouth at the time of discharge. In addition, she had normal growth at her 2-year follow up.

References

Necrotizing Enterocolitis https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm2020782

Previous articleBronchoesophageal Fistula, Manifestation of Lung Carcinoma
Next articleCOVID-19 Vaccines: Are They All The Same?
Dr. Aiman Shahab is a dentist with a bachelor’s degree from Dow University of Health Sciences. She is an experienced freelance writer with a demonstrated history of working in the health industry. Skilled in general dentistry, she is currently working as an associate dentist at a private dental clinic in Karachi, freelance content writer and as a part time science instructor with Little Medical School. She has also been an ambassador for PDC in the past from the year 2016 – 2018, and her responsibilities included acting as a representative and volunteer for PDC with an intention to make the dental community of Pakistan more connected and to work for benefiting the underprivileged. When she’s not working, you’ll either find her reading or aimlessly walking around for the sake of exploring. Her future plans include getting a master’s degree in maxillofacial and oral surgery, settled in a metropolitan city of North America.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here