ABSTRACT
The term “necrotizing enterocolitis” was first coined in the 1950s when used to describe infants who died with necrotic lesions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but it did not become recognized as a distinct clinical entity until the 1960s, when a number of authors began reporting their experience with this disease. The onset of symptoms of Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) appears to be inversely related to the gestational age at birth and birth weight, such that full-term infants who develop NEC (primarily but not exclusively those with congenital cardiac abnormalities) do so in the first few days of life, whereas preterm infants of low birth weight develop symptoms most commonly between 15 and 20 days of age. Minimal access surgery has become commonplace in recent years within the field of pediatric surgery but its incorporation into the mainstream surgical treatment of infants with NEC has not been successful.
