Acute Neonatal Intestinal Obstruction

Abstract

The newborn infant ejected from his comfortable isothermic habitat into a hostile world has many physiological adjustments to make in the first four weeks of life. If, as a result of intestinal obstruction, the newborn infant persistently vomits, fails to pass meconium stools and develops abdominal distension, then it is mortally ill. Three factors will militate against a successful surgical outcome in these infants.