Intestinal stricture in necrotizing enterocolitis.

In a 3-yr period, eight infants among 43 survivors of acute NEC developed intestinal stricture. Four infants developed multiple stricture after proximal diversion procedures, and four had single strictures after medical therapy. Nineteen cases of intestinal stricture after NEC were collected from the literature. Radiographic examinations at the time of the acute disease were not predictive of the risk of subsequent stricture. Histologic examination showed various stages of wound healing, most prominently in the submucosa. Stricture should be considered as the cause of intestinal malfunction in any child who survives acute NEC.