Necrotizing enterocolitis: etiology, presentation, management, and outcomes.

Necrotizing enterocolitis is one of the most common gastrointestinal disease processes affecting infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Its morbidity and mortality are substantial. This devastating and challenging process results in immediate and long-term morbidities for the affected infant and frustrates the clinician who struggles to prevent the process, recognize it when it does develop, and provide management techniques to enhance the outcome.