Comparison of preoperative and intraoperative surgeon diagnosis and pathologic findings in spontaneous intestinal...

To investigate the accuracy of preoperative and intraoperative diagnosis via comparison to pathologic diagnosis in spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP) vs. necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

A retrospective review of neonates <1500 g treated for pneumoperitoneum between 07/2004-09/2022 was conducted. Patients treated for NEC medically prior to diagnosis and those treated with drain only were excluded. Fleiss' Kappa analysis assessed agreement between all three diagnoses: preoperative, intraoperative, and pathologic.

Overall, 125 patients were included with mean birthweight 834.2 g (SD:259.2) and mean gestational age 25.8 weeks (SD:2.2). Preoperative and intraoperative diagnoses agreed in 90.3%, intraoperative and pathologic agreed in 71.1%, and preoperative and pathologic agreed in 75.2% of patients. Fleiss' Kappa was 0.55 (95% CI:0.43,0.68), indicating moderate agreement between the three diagnoses.

Our study shows moderate agreement between preoperative, intraoperative, and pathologic diagnoses. Further studies investigating the clinical characteristics of SIP and NEC are needed to improve diagnostic accuracy and management.