Abstract
Twenty newborn patients with birth asphyxia, who were operated during neonatal period, were reviewed and their problems in perioperative period were discussed. Among 112 patients who had various surgical procedures for congenital gastrointestinal anomalies within 14 days of life, twenty patients (18%) showed 6 or less of Apgar score at 1 minutes. Twelve of them were transferred from other hospitals. Six died in postoperative period, but causes of their death were not related to birth asphyxia. Transient myocardial ischemia was noted in four (20%) and six patients developed complications of the central nervous system (30%). It was impressive that the patients transferred for emergency operation necessitated more intensive preoperative treatment than the inborn patients and their prognosis was dependent upon the cardiopulmonary status on admission. In case of asphyxiated newborn patients, particular considerations should be paid for complications of the central nervous system.
