Volvulus in term and preterm infants - clinical presentation and outcome.

Aim: Our aim was to assess if term and preterm infants with volvulus showed different patterns with regard to pathogenesis, clinical presentation and outcome.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records and imaging data of infants aged less than six months with volvulus treated in a single surgical referral centre from 2006-2013.

Results: Volvulus was diagnosed in 19 infants, with no anatomical anomaly in three of the 12 preterm infants and one of the seven term infants. Most cases (74%) presented during the first eight days of life. Later presentations occurred exclusively in preterm infants, with only one of the five having no anatomic anomalies. Bilious vomiting was the leading symptom in six of the seven term infants, while the symptoms in preterm infants were rather nonspecific. Intestinal necrosis, with the need for bowel resection, occurred in one term (14%) infant and nine (75%) preterm infants.

Conclusion: The clinical presentation and outcome of volvulus differed between preterm and term infants, but the rate and distribution of underlying anomalies did not differ. Symptoms in preterm infants were often nonspecific and led to a delay in diagnosis. This might have contributed to the higher rate of intestinal necrosis in preterm infants.