ABSTRACT
Neonatal necrotising enterocolitis is a potentially fatal disease in which there is ischaemia of the bowel associated with inflammation and gas forming bacteria. Most major conditions in the neonate that require surgical correction are congenital, but a few are acquired. The two most common major ventral abdominal wall defects are exomphalos and gastroschisis. In exomphalos, there is a large defect at the umbilicus with protrusion of abdominal viscera into a thin membranous sac, which is formed by amniotic membrane on the outside and peritoneum on the inside. Bladder exstrophy and cloacal exstrophy are major congenital abnormalities involving failure of the lower abdominal wall to close, exposing the mucosal surface of the bladder. Prune belly syndrome may be due to transient intrauterine obstruction of urinary outflow, causing gross distension of the bladder and upper urinary tract, which in turn is the cause of abdominal distension.
