Benign transient non-organic ileus of neonates

Abstract

There are a substantial number of neonates who present with Hirschsprung's disease-like symptoms, but respond very well to conservative therapy. However, once Hirschsprung's disease is ruled out, little attention is paid to these infants, because of the lack of necessity for surgical treatment and their excellent prognosis. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the clinical features of functional ileus of neonates, which we named benign transient non-organic ileus of neonates (BTNIN). Out of 61 neonates referred to our institution with suspected neonatal Hirschsprung's disease (NH), 10 were diagnosed as having NH and 51 as having BTNIN. All the cases of BTNIN showed marked abdominal distension, and 12 showed explosive defecation on digital examination at the first visit. Plain X-ray demonstrated marked whole intestinal dilatation in 12 cases including cases with niveau formation and segmental dilatation. These findings were indistinguishable from those of NH. However, all had a normal anorectal reflex, and rectal suction biopsy revealed normal acetylcholinesterase activity and submucosal ganglion cells. All the cases of BTNIN were treated with periodic glycerin enemas until daily spontaneous defecation was established, which took 2 to 14 months, with an average of 5.0 +/- 2.9 months. None of them showed residual symptoms during the follow-up period.