Necrotizing Enterocolits

Abstract

Necrotizing Enterocolits is the most common acquired gastrointestinal disease that occurs in the neonates especially the premature infants. As the advances in neonatal intensive care have progressed and as premature newborns are surviving long enough for the disease to develop, the incidence of NEC has increased. There is an inverse relationship between NEC and the gestational age, the extreme preterm babies being at highest risk. Although it is mainly a disease of preterms, it can occur in terms and late preterms. Coagulation necrosis is the hallmark of the pathologic findings of NEC. Fetal intestine is a relatively dormant organ and the low level of blood flow and oxygen delivery is adequate to meet its limited tissue oxygen demand. Postnatally, the gut is a site of intense metabolic activity with a dramatic increase in growth during the first weeks of life. The basal vascular resistance within the newborn intestinal circulation significantly decreases in the first several days after birth.