Twelve years of experience in the treatment of newborns with intrauterine gastrointestinal perforation.

Background: Meconium peritonitis occurs when meconium leaks into the peritoneal cavity as a result of intrauterine gastrointestinal perforation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the results of newborn patients who were followed and treated due to intrauterine gastrointestinal perforation in the pediatric surgery clinic.

Methods: All newborn patients who were followed up and treated for intrauterine gastrointestinal perforation in our clinic between December 2009-2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Newborns who had no congenital gastrointestinal perforation were not included in our study. The data were analyzed using NCSS (Number Cruncher Statistical System) 2020 Statistical Software.

Results: Within twelve years, intrauterine gastrointestinal perforation was detected in 41 newborns, including 26 (63.4%) males, and 15 (36.6%) patients who were operated on in our pediatric surgery clinic. Surgical findings of 41 patients diagnosed with intrauterine gastrointestinal perforation revealed the presence of volvulus (n=21), meconium pseudocyst (n=18), jejunoileal atresia (n=17), malrotation-malfixation anomaly (n=6), volvulus due to internal hernia (n=6), Meckel`s diverticulum (n=2), gastroschisis (n=2), perforated appendicitis (n=1), anal atresia (n=1), and gastric perforation (n=1). Eleven patients (26.8%) died. Total intubation time was significantly higher in deceased cases. Postoperatively, deceased cases passed their first stool significantly earlier than surviving newborns. Besides, ileal perforation was seen significantly more frequently in deceased cases. However, the frequency of jejunoileal atresia was significantly lower in the deceased patients.

Conclusions: Although sepsis has been held primarily responsible for the deaths in these infants from past to present, insufficiency in lung capacity necessitating intubation negatively affects their survival. Early passage of stool is not always an indicator of good prognosis after the operation, and patients may die due to malnutrition and dehydration, even after they are discharged after feeding, defecating and having weight gain.