Surgical Options in Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating neonatal disease primarily seen in premature infants with an incidence rate around 1 5% in intensive care unit. Despite the advancement in neonatal care, NEC is still associated with high morbidity and mortality. Many cases of NEC are managed medically, but up to 40 50% of the patients refractory to medical management and all patients with perforated NEC require surgery. The most appropriate timing for surgery and the optimum surgical management in advanced stages of NEC remains controversial. Typically, the surgical options is influenced not only by the patient’s clinical status and the extent of the disease but also by surgeon’s preference. The surgical options at laparotomy include resection with stoma fashioning, resection with primary anastomosis, “clip and drop” or “Patch-drain-wait” technique. In Extremely Low-Birth Weight Infant, Peritoneal drainage placement has been taken in consideration. As NEC is still an emerging rare disease, network such as ERNICA (European Reference Network on Rare Inherited and Congenital Anomalies) can help to pool together disease-specific expertise in order to provide high-quality care for patients and improve a cross-border healthcare.