Experience with meconium peritonitis.
BACKGROUND
Meconium peritonitis is a sterile chemical peritonitis resulting from intrauterine bowel perforation. With the development of neonatal care, the prognosis of meconium peritonitis improved much. We report our clinical experience.


METHODS
The medical records of patients with meconium peritonitis admitted to the Asan Medical Center from June 1989 to July 2006 were retrospectively reviewed.


RESULTS
Of 41 patients (17 males, 24 females), 38 (92.7%) were suspected to suffer from meconium peritonitis prenatally, at a median gestational age of 32 weeks (range, 21-40 weeks). The most common prenatal sonographic finding was fetal ascites followed by dilated bowel. Ten patients were managed conservatively, but 31 patients underwent operations including resection and anastomosis (22), drainage procedure (4), ileostomy (3) and primary repair (2). The operative 31 cases comprised generalized (16), fibroadhesive (10), and cystic types (5). The main causes were intestinal atresia and idiopathic bowel perforation. The mortality rate was 2.4%, and the morbidity rate was 34.1%.


CONCLUSIONS
Good survival rate was achieved. But there was rather high morbidity. More gentle and delicate approach should be done to lower the morbidity.
Nam
So Hyun
SH
Department of Pediatric Surgery, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, South Korea.
Kim
Seong Chul
SC
Kim
Dae Yeon
DY
Kim
Ai Rhan
AR
Kim
Ki Soo
KS
Pi
Soo Yung
SY
Won
Hye Sung
HS
Kim
In Koo
IK
D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008470:Meconium; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography