Abstract
Little has been documented about enterostomy in the neonatal period. A clinical study of 13 neonates treated with enterostomy management during the recent two decades was made.
Eleven babies were two days old or less at the time of operation, representing 85%. Enterostomy was performed for peritonitis due to perforation of the small intestine (6 babies), extensive aganglionosis (4), multiple atresia of the intestine (1), colonic atresia (1), and disruption of anastmosis after the operation for ileal atresia (1). Eleven patients had a jejunostomy and 2 an ileostomy. Most cases necessitating enterostomy were serious, and postoperative mortality rate was 61%. When compared death cases with recovered cases, there was no significant difference in body weight at the birth, but a direct relationship between the both groups in the length of gestational period was observed (p<0.05).
In fasting state, there was no relationship between enterostomy output and length of functional intestine.
