[Morbidity and mortality in newborns with omphalocele and gastroschisis anterior abdominal wall defects].

OBJECTIVE

To identify morbidity and mortality in newborns with congenital defects of the anterior abdominal wall.

DESIGN

Descriptive, comparative, and retrospective study.

PATIENTS

Thirty nine patients with gastroschisis and 26 patients with omphalocele.

RESULTS

Median size of the defect in the gastroschisis group was 4 cm. Infants underwent primary closure en 41% of cases. Post-surgical morbidity occurred in 74% of patients with sepsis the main complication in 61.5%. A total of 16.2% died mainly due to acute renal failure and sepsis. In the omphalocele group, median size of defect was 5.5 cm. Primary closure was done in 65% of patients. Complications occurred in 65% of newborns, sepsis was the most frequent complication (46%). Mortality rate was 16.6% related to acute renal failure and cardiogenic shock.

CONCLUSIONS

The main causes of morbidity in the two groups were infections and acute renal failure. Mortality rate was similar to that reported in the world literature for gastroschisis and slightly lower for omphalocele.