Saving the life of a newborn weighing 800 grams with peritonitis due to intestinal perforation

14/03/2023 13:42

On January 17, Viet Duc University Hospital informed that the doctors of Department of Pediatric and Neonatal Surgery of Hospital have saved the life of a premature newborn baby weighing only 800 grams, diagnosed the neonatal peritonitis caused by a perforated ileum.  

Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Viet Hoa – Head of Pediatric and Neonatal Surgery Department, Viet Duc University Hospital shared that this is a special case because the mother pregnant with twins complicated premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM) when the fetus were only 29 weeks.

Due to PPROM, one child weighed 1300 grams, and the other only 800 grams and required the mechanical ventilation immediately after birth. On the 5th day, that baby was complicated the intestinal perforation lead the peritonitis and septic condition.

The baby was actively resuscitated by the doctors of the Newborn Care Center and the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After an inter-hospital consultation, the doctors have decided to perform surgery on emergency in hoping to save his life despite the child with Under-weight  and severe condition.

Very soon, the newborn was transferred to Viet Duc University Hospital for operation on emergency surgery, cleaned the abdomen, and performed the ileostomy of the intestinal perforation. After the surgery, the child has been caring in ICU of the Neonatal Care and Treatment Center, National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

For a baby whose mother was pregnant with twins, born at 29 weeks of pregnant, weighing only 800 grams, to be able to take care of it was very difficult. This case was complicated because the newborn also suffered from severe infectious and septic complications for premature infants condition which peritonitis caused by intestinal perforation.

Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Viet Hoa shared: During the surgery, doctors have to ensure ventilation, blood pressure, and heart rate, but also ensure to keep the baby’s body temperature normally during the operation, because this is the risk of postoperative mortality if the hypothermia is happened.

Recently, there have been many cases of premature infants with neonatal peritonitis being saved thanks to the coordination of medical teams of two leading hospitals: National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Viet Duc University Hospital.