Protocol-Driven Surgical Care of Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation

Background: There is no clear consensus on the optimal operative management of premature infants with surgical necrotizing enterocolitis (sNEC) or spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP); thus, a protocol was developed to guide surgical decision making regarding initial peritoneal drainage (PD) versus initial laparotomy (LAP). We sought to evaluate outcomes after implementation of the protocol. Methods: Pre-post study including multiple urban hospitals. Premature infants with sNEC/SIP were accrued after implementation of surgical protocol-directed care (June 2014-June 2019). Patients with a birth weight of <750 g and less than 2 wk of age without pneumatosis or portal venous gas were treated with PD on perforation. PD patients received subsequent LAP for clinical deterioration or continued meconium/bilious drainage. Postprotocol characteristics and outcomes were compared with institutional historical controls. Significance set at P < 0.05. Results: Preprotocol and postprotocol cohorts comprise 35 and 73 patients, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in age at intervention between historical control PD (14 ± 13 d) and postprotocol PD (9 ± 4 d) groups (P = 0.01), PD patient's birth weight (716 ± 212 g versus 610 ± 141 g, P = 0.02) and estimated gestational age of LAP patients (27 ± 1.7 wk versus 31 ± 4 wk, P = 0.002). PD was definitive surgery in 27% (12 of 44) of postprotocol patients compared with 13% (3 of 23) historical controls. A trend in improved survival postprotocol occurred in all PD infants (73% versus 65%), all LAP (75% versus 70%), and for initial PD and subsequent LAP (82% versus 67%). Conclusions: Utilization of a surgical protocol in sNEC/SIP is associated with improved success of PD as definitive surgery and improved survival.