Gastrointestinal motility in the neonate.

Although patterns of gastrointestinal movements have been recognized for nearly a century, only in the past 10 years have we had the diagnostic tools to characterize both normal and abnormal motility in the neonate. Parallel with these advances, over the past 25 years, we have seen an explosion in our understanding of the ENS and its independent regulation of gut motility. It is expected that, as we come to a better understanding of the microregulation of intestinal motor activity, we can develop more effective means to treat many of these heretofore refractory disorders of gastrointestinal motility.