Gastrointestinal sequelae and growth impairment at school age following necrotising enterocolitis in the newborn period

Aim: To evaluate gastrointestinal sequelae and growth impairment at school age in children who suffered from necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). Methods: This historic cohort study compared all surviving children born in Denmark between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2011 with NEC in the newborn period, to surviving children without NEC, but same gestational age, birthweight and year of birth. Outcomes were investigated through a parental questionnaire, including gastrointestinal and growth-related outcomes. We performed exploratory ad hoc analysis, by adjusting for possible confounding and by dividing NEC children into surgical and medical. Results: In total, 163 children with NEC (50%) and 237 (36%) without NEC completed the parental questionnaire. Episodes of diarrhoea were more often reported in the NEC group (p = 0.0002). The increased risk seemed to be limited to those who underwent surgery for NEC. The absence from school (1.67 versus 1.31 days), rate of low height for age (17.9 versus 12.1%) and weight (29.9 versus 31.6 kg) did not differ significantly between children with NEC and children without NEC. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that long-term gastrointestinal complications following NEC appeared to be of little clinical importance at the population level and therefore do not encourage specific routine follow-up.