1. Case report
A 3-day-old male born at 34 weeks gestation developed
abdominal distention one day after starting feeds. Plain radiograph
of his abdomen showed dilated bowel, possible pneumatosis, as
well as a large amount of pneumoperitoneum (Fig. 1). He was
brought to the operating room for exploratory laparotomy for
bowel perforation. During exploratory laparotomy pneumatosis of
about a 2-cm area of descending colon along the antimesenteric
border with a tiny microperforation and minimal contamination
was identified. This area was resected, and the colostomy and
mucus fistula was created. Examination of the resected segment of
bowel revealed chronic active serositis and presence of ganglion
cells. Six weeks after the initial surgery he was brought back for
colostomy closure; preoperatively, he was tolerating full feeds and
a contrast enema study was normal. Limited resection was performed
of the colostomy and mucus fistula, and an end-to-end
anastomosis was performed. The procedure was uneventful but
postoperatively the patient was intermittently distended and had
difficulty feeding and stooling. A retrograde contrast enema done
without inflation of the balloon showed no transition zone but
mucosal irregularity was noted (Fig. 2). A suction rectal biopsy was
performed which showed no ganglion cells, consistent with
Hirschsprung’s disease. He was brought to OR four weeks after the
closure of the colostomy and underwent Soave endorectal pullthrough.
Intraoperatively, the transition zone was identified at
approximately a few centimeters above the peritoneal reflection.
Patient made an uneventful recovery