Surgical approach to necrotizing enterocolitis

The pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis is still unclear. Even though necrotizing enterocolitis is a relatively rare entity in newborns, it is still the most frequent neonatal surgical gastrointestinal disease. There are several options in the treatment of NEC, including conservative treatment, surgery and primary peritoneal drainage. The authors present their results in the treatment of this serious disease over the past 5 years. 65 children were treated. 48 children (62%) were treated conservatively and 17 children (38%) underwent surgery. The median time of diagnosis was the 6th day of life. The average birth weight was 1988 g (range 700 -4100 g). Most of the patients had associated anomalies. Mortality was 21% in children who were treated conservatively and 23% in the surgically treated group.