Laparoscopic repair of neonatal gastric perforation.

BACKGROUND

Gastric perforation is a rare, life-threatening condition in neonates. To avoid deterioration, prompt surgical treatment is mandatory.

PATIENTS

We report on 2 neonates (1 and 8 days old) with feeding tube associated gastric perforation managed laparoscopically by single layer suture repair. Both children suffered from severe peritonitis. Operative time was 60 minutes in both cases. Oral feeding was started on postoperative day 3 and 7, respectively. No complications regarding the gastric perforation were encountered on follow-up (11 and 8 months, respectively) in both cases.

CONCLUSIONS

We recommend laparoscopic suture repair as a safe and feasible method for surgical treatment of gastric perforation in neonates. These appear to be the first reported cases using this procedure for treatment of neonatal gastric perforation.