All issues > Volume 49(7); 2006

Case Report

Korean J Pediatr. 2006;49(7):800-804. Published online July 15, 2006.

Primary peritoneal drainage as a treatment for perforated necrotizing enterocolitis with bacterial peritonitis in an extremely low birth weight infant : a case report

Wook Sun WS Choi¹, Il Hong IH Moon¹, Jang Hoon JH Lee¹, Seung Hwa SH Lee², Byung Min BM Choi¹, Baik-Lin BL Eun¹, Young Sook YS Hong¹, Joo Won JW Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Byung Min BM Choi ,Email: cbmin@korea.ac.kr

Abstract

Necrotizing enterocolitis(NEC) is the most common life-threatening surgical emergency in neonates, and remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In addition to conventional laparotomy, intraperitoneal drains have been used for the treatment of perforated NEC, especially in extremely low birth weight(ELBW) infants. We report a case of perforated NEC with bacterial peritonitis in an ELBW infant managed with primary peritoneal drainage(PD) without further need for surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first documented Korean case of an ELBW infant where PD was used as primary treatment for perforated NEC. Primary PD is effective and safe in ELBW infants with perforated NEC; although it is not considered a definitive procedure, it should be considered in all cases where infants are too unstable to tolerate anesthesia and surgery.

Keywords :Necrotizing enterocolitis , Peritonitis , Infant , Low birth weight