Neonatal intestinal atresia will die within 1 week if it is not treated.

Small intestinal atresia is a common intestinal obstruction disease in newborns, and the incidence rate is about 1 in 3, infants. Doctors remind that this kind of lesion is mainly manifested by vomiting milk and abdominal distension. If the treatment is delayed, the baby may die within 1 week and must be operated within 48 hours. At the same time, the doctor called on the newborn mother to do a good prenatal examination during pregnancy. If there is polyhydramnios, she must discuss the follow-up treatment with the doctor. Chen Keqi (pictured), director of pediatric surgery, called on pregnant mothers to pay attention to neonatal intestinal atresia. (Photo/Zhang Shijie)

A newborn was admitted to Tzu Chi Hospital in Taipei recently. After birth, she continued to suffer from abdominal distension, vomiting after eating, and the symptoms of unexplained meconium were found. After examination, it was found to be intestinal atresia with complications of ascites. Chen Keqi, director of pediatric surgery, performed an emergency operation to remove the black and necrotic intestine 3 cm long and connected the intestine. After that, the baby recovered well and returned home from the hospital.

small intestinal atresia with ascites and abdominal distension like watermelon

Dr. Chen Keqi said that the reason of neonatal intestinal atresia is that a certain section of intestine is necrotic due to diseases such as intestinal kink, intestinal intussusception, hernia or mesenteric vascular disorder in the mother's body, but because the fetus is sterile in the uterus, it will not cause fatal peritonitis, and the intestine will cause small intestinal atresia after healing itself.

There are four different types of intestinal atresia in clinic. This newborn suffers from the rare type 3b. The proximal part of the intestine has a twist similar to the peeled apple skin, which is 3 cm black and necrotic, and the distal part is only 1 cm connected with the cecum. Before the operation, it can be found that the proximal part of the obstruction has a very obvious swelling like watermelon, and the distal intestinal segment becomes smaller because there is no gastrointestinal fluid. During the operation, part of the small intestine at both ends is removed and re-established.