Intestinal stricture after necrotizing enterocolitis

Between 1974 and 1979 inclusive, 20 of 175 neonates with previous necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) developed obstruction from intestinal stricture 1-20 mo after the diagnosis of NEC. Seven were found in the small bowel, 19 in the colon. Treatment included proximal decompressive enterostomy with subsequent resection in 6 and primary resection in 11. Two died during attempts to restore GI continuity and one died from cardiac disease before any GI surgery. Morbidity occurred in six. Various stages of wound healing from acute inflammation to dense fibrosis were found in pathologic specimens. Fibrosis was most marked in the submucosa and most consistently found in specimens resected 3 mo after the acute episode of NEC. Intestinal stricture develops in 6%-33% of the infants with previous NEC. Eighty percent of these strictures are colonic, 30% are left sided, and 15% are multiple. Multiple lesions are exclusively colonic. Histology varies with age of lesion. The predominant feature of stricture is submucosal fibrosis. Strictures less than 3 mo old still have acute inflammatory disease, older strictures are mature and fibrotic. The best diagnostic tools are a high index of suspicion and a barium enema. An intestinal stricture should be suspected in any infant with a past history of NEC and: (1) symptoms of obstruction or failure to thrive; (2) previous exteriorization or proximal diversion of acute or chronic NEC lesions; or (3) peritoneal drainage under local anesthesia for NEC perforation. Treatment should be tailored to the infant's condition and the time elapsed since the acute NEC episode. Resection of the stricture must be complete otherwise recurrence or leak is unlikely. Intestinal diversion with a 3-6-mo delay before reconstruction appears safer in the child with little margin for error. Earlier restoration of blood flow and cessation of intestinal function during the acute episode of NEC might reduce the incidence of stricture.