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Necrotizing Enterocolitis
- NEC is an inflammatory lesion of bowel which can progress to intestinal gangrene, with perforation, and /or peritonitis
- characterized by abdominal distension, feeding difficulties, and GI bleeding
- mainly affects pre-term infants, and most commonly affects distal ileum and proximal colon
- usually presents during the first 2 weeks of life, but may occur up to 3 months of age in infants who who born weighing <1000grams
- classic finding on abdominal XR is pneumatosis intestinalis or air in the bowel wall (pathognomonic) and is present 50-75% of the time
- treat emergently with nasogastric decompression, IVF recussitation, NPO, and IV antibiotics
References
MedStudy Board Review
Pediatrics Core Curriculum