Post-discharge follow-up of congenital duodenal obstruction patients: a systematic review.

Purpose: Long-term follow-up of congenital duodenal obstruction patients often falls on care providers with little experience of this condition. We performed a systematic review of the long-term outcomes of duodenal obstruction and provide a summary of sequelae care providers should anticipate.

Methods: In 2022, after registering with PROSPERA, Medline (Ovid), EMBASE, PSYCHINFO, CNAHL and SCOPUS databases were searched using the title keyword 'intestinal atresia'. Abstracts were filtered for inclusion if they included the duodenum. Papers of filtered abstracts were included if they reported post-discharge outcomes. Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies was used to grade the papers.

Results: Of the 1068 abstracts were screened, 32 papers were reviewed. Eleven studies were included. Thirty additional papers were included after reviewing references, for a total of 41 papers. The average MINORS was 7/16.

Conclusion: There is good evidence that children with congenital duodenal obstruction do well in terms of survival, growth and general well-being. Associated cardiac, musculoskeletal and renal anomalies should be ruled-out. Care providers should be aware of anastomotic dysfunction, blind loop syndrome, bowel obstruction and reflux. Reflux may be asymptomatic. Laparoscopic repair does not change long-term outcomes, and associated Trisomy 21 worsens neurodevelopmental outcomes.