13^th World Pediatric Congress

Neonatal Gastrointestinal Perforation (NGP) is a common condition carrying a mortality of 17-60%. The first report of a gastrointestinal perforation in a newborn was published by Siebold in 1825. The first successful operation for neonatal ileal perforation was in 1943. Early diagnosis of intestinal perforation is needed to allow prompt surgical intervention. Necrotizing enterocolitis is considered the commonest cause of NGP; in our series we operated on 82 patients out of 136 babies diagnosed with NEC; where 49 of them (59.8%) had pneumoperitoneum. Spontaneous intestinal perforations presents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge; perforations due to mechanical intestinal obstruction as in imperforate anus, Hirschsprung’s Disease (HD), intestinal atresia and meconium ileus are infrequently encountered at the present time because of earlier diagnosis and treatment. Awareness of the clinical presentation and main radiological signs will enable the diagnosis to be made more promptly managed.