User:Mr. Ibrahem/Intestinal atresia

Intestinal atresia is a birth defect of the intestines that causes bowel obstruction in the newborn. There are three types duodenal (DA), jejunoileal (JIA), and colonic (CA). Symptoms may include vomiting bile, abdominal bloating, and failure to pass meconium. Complications of JIA may include short gut syndrome while complications of DA may include Hirschsprung disease.

Risk factors for JIA include gastroschisis and cystic fibrosis while risk factors for DA include Down syndrome. Diagnosis may occur by ultrasound before birth and X-ray after birth. Other conditions that may present similarly include intestinal malrotation including volvulus, and Hirschsprung disease.

Initial treatment involves nasogastric tube placement and intravenous fluids. This is than followed by surgery and in JIA parenteral nutrition is often required until intestinal function has improved. Procedurals to lengthen the intestines or small bowel transplant may occasionally be required. The risk of death in DA is about 5% while that in CA is about 25%.

Jejunoileal atresia affects between 1 to 3 in 10,000, while duodenal atresia affects about 1 in 10,000, and colonic atresia affects about 1 in 35,000 newborns. The condition is the cause of about a third of cases of bowel obstruction in newborns. It was first described in 1684 by Goeller.