ABSTRACT
Meconium peritonitis (MP) is an aseptic peritonitis caused by spills of meconium in the abdominal cavity through one or several intestinal perforations that have taken place during intrauterine life. Extravasation of sterile meconium into the fetal peritoneal cavity causes an intense chemical and foreign body reaction with characteristic calcification. Intrauterine intestinal perforation may result from various causes. Patients with MP are divided into those with and without associated intestinal obstruction. However, in some cases, it is impossible to find its etiology, in spite of pathological changes. The tabulation of the medical and perinatal reports demonstrated that 80" of these patients had neonatal anoxia and respiratory distress. The diagnosis of MP in the postnatal period is based on clinical and radiological, and ultrasonographic findings of intestinal obstruction, and occasionally one or more of the following: calcification, pneumoperitoneum, cyst formation, or ascites.
