title: Meconium peritonitis: Prenatal diagnosis of a rare entity and postnatal management.
abstract: The aims of this study were to review our therapy and outcome for meconium peritonitis (MP) patients, and to clarify predictors of postoperative morbidity and mortality. We retrospectively reviewed a total 15 patients with MP who received surgical intervention at our institute from December 1990 to November 2012. Diagnosis of MP was confirmed by operative findings. We analyzed the relationship between outcome and patients' factors including patients' characteristics, prenatal diagnosis, type of MP, general condition, and surgical procedure. There was no relationship between outcome and the following factors: gender, gestational age, body weight at birth, delivery type, Apgar score, prenatal diagnosis, types and causes of MP, and surgical procedure. However, the preoperative presence of circulation deficiency and serum CRP values were statistically significant predictors of outcome in our MP patients. Prenatal diagnosis is essential for the first step of perinatal therapy for MP. Surgical strategy should be selected according to the information of prenatal diagnosis. Early surgical procedures to reduce systemic and abdominal inflammation just after birth may improve the outcome of severe MP cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuhki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otake
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kusunoki
keywords: Meconium peritonitis; prenatal diagnosis; surgery