A case report of Neonatal Gastric Perforation: Is it avoidable?

Abstract

Neonatal gastric perforation (NGP) is a rare but serious surgical emergency, with an unclear aetiology and several risk factors. Surgery remains the gold standard treatment for the management of this condition, while prevention is not prioritised in clinical practice. A full-term male newborn with a normal birth weight was transferred to our paediatric surgery unit at 4 days of life for the management of a pneumoperitoneum secondary to gastric perforation. This diagnosis was suspected preoperatively based on the striking gastric distension observed on prior radiographs. We believe that early management at the stage of gastric distension may have prevented such a complication. NGP is associated with a high mortality rate, reaching up to 70%. Although this rate has significantly decreased with advances in neonatology, more efforts are needed to reduce both the overall incidence and mortality of this condition.