What is necrotising enterocolitis |
Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is inflammation of the bowel. |
|
|
|
|
NEC
may only affect the innermost lining of the bowel or the entire
thickness of the bowel and variable amounts of the intestine. |
Why do premature babies get NEC? |
Premature
infants have immature and fragile intestines. They are sensitive to
changes in blood flow and to infection. We usually do not know why an
individual baby develops NEC. |
Did my breast milk cause NEC? |
Babies
who are given breast milk are less likely to get NEC than babies who
are fed formula. However, it does not completely prevent it. |
Is NEC serious? |
A
few babies can lose some of their intestine from NEC. Unfortunately
some babies will also die from NEC. As this is a serious problem,
doctors may start treatment simply on the suspicion that your baby may
be developing symptoms of NEC. This suspicion is sometimes referred to
as “possible NEC”. |
What will happen to my baby if he or she has NEC? |
Your baby may show any or all of the following: |
|
|
|
|
|
What can be done to treat NEC? |
If your baby’s doctor thinks your baby might be developing NEC, any or all of the following might be done: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What happens if part of my baby’s intestine is damaged? |
If
only the inner lining of intestine is damaged, it will heal normally.
If the entire thickness of a piece of intestine dies, the intestine may
perforate (develop a hole in it) and your baby will need surgery to
remove that piece of bowel. The ends of the intestine above and below the damaged piece may be brought to the surface of the skin (called an ostomy). At some later time, after your baby has recovered and grown bigger, the two ends of the bowel are sewn back together and put into the abdomen in a second operation. |
Occasionally,
the ends of the bowel can be sewn together during the first surgery,
and then no further surgery is needed. The surgeon decides this at the
time of surgery. |
Are there any long term problems from NEC? |
Most
babies recover from NEC and do not have further problems; but, future
problems are possible, especially if there has been surgery to the
bowel. These include: |
|
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Necrotising enterocolitis
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment