Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis: a nine-year experience. II. Outcome assessment.

Mortality was assessed in a nine-year experience with 123 patients with necrotizing enterocolitis. Overall mortality was 45%. Despite intestinal perforation among surgically treated patients, there was no difference in mortality between surgically or medically treated patients(46% vs 54%). Patients with only hematochezia or abdominal distention has a lower mortality than those who appeared "septic" (35% vs 68%). Similarly, those with bacteremia and disseminated intravascular coagulation had high mortality as well as those in whom peritonitis with ascites developed. When the entire patient population is considered, prior therapy with ascites developed. When the entire patient population is considered, prior therapy with systemic antibiotics or concomitant therapy with oral aminoglycosides had no effect on severity of the disease, occurrence of intestinal perforation, or mortality.