Necrotizing enterocolitis: improving survival within a single facility

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a disease associated with prematurity, carries a significant morbidity and mortality. This study was designed to evaluate our progress in dealing with NEC both medically and surgically in a single large neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We also sought to confirm the relation of birth weight and particular indications for operation to outcome. Over 6 1/2 years, there were 7,807 admissions to a large NICU. Though there has been a steady increase in total admissions, especially of infants weighing less than 1,000 gm, survival has improved significantly in all groups (mean 89.1%). NEC occurred in 358 infants (4.6%), and 115 (32%) required surgical intervention. Infants weighing between 751 and 1,000 gm had the highest incidence of NEC. There has been a significant decrease in the mortality of both medically and surgically treated infants with NEC; in both cases, this decrease is weight-dependent. We found that using erythema and edema of the abdominal wall and a fixed-loop roentgenographic pattern as early indicators of necrotic bowel significantly improves survival in surgically treated infants.