children s health issues
Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC)
Prognosis for NEC
Current medical and surgical treatments have improved the prognosis for infants with necrotizing enterocolitis. About 70 to 80% of affected newborns survive. Strictures occur in 10 to 36% of infants who survive the initial episode of necrotizing enterocolitis and typically cause symptoms 2 to 3 months after the episode. Sometimes strictures need to be corrected surgically. Short Bowel Syndrome (a disorder causing diarrhea and poor absorption of nutrients [malabsorption]) develops in about 10% of infants who had necrotizing enterocolitis. 