Are Fetuses Affected by Gastroschisis Benefited from Prenatal Maternal Corticosteroid Use and Early Parturition

Introduction: Gastroschisis (G) is a congenital defect of the abdominal walls through which intestinal herniation and permanent exposure to amniotic liquid (AL) and its components are developed at the end of gestation. G affects mostly fetuses from young mothers under 25 - 29 years old, but it occurs more often in fetuses of mothers’ ages between 12 - 15 years old. Some authors assert that it is not the low weight, nor the low gestational age that influences mortality. In addition to morphological alterations, histological alterations are characterized by disorganization, distribution and the degree of ganglia maturity and myenteric plexuses. The literature describes parturition anticipation of G disease carriers to minimize damages to intestinal loops. There are studies suggesting corticosteroids at the end of gestation in order to avoid morphological and histological damages to the intestinal loop. Objective: Identify if live newborn infants delivery anticipation, that is, gestational date less than 37 weeks and prenatal maternal use of corticosteroid were benefited from early enteral diet, namely, less than 10 post-surgery days. Material and Method: From 33 newborns researched in the period from 2010 to 2014; 28 newborns full records were included in the study with 15.2% mortality rate. These newborns were divided in 3 groups according to maternal age: 6 newborns from mothers’ age between 16 - 20 years old (Group 1); 14 newborns from mothers’ age between 21 - 25 years old (Group 2) and 8 newborns from mothers’ age between 26 - 29 years old (Group 3). Gestational age at birth and prenatal maternal usage of corticosteroid and beginning oral feeding were assessed. Results: From 28 newborns, 19 mothers ingested prenatal corticosteroid and 16 newborns received the first enteric diet 10 days before and 3 days later. The mothers of the other 9 newborns were not treated with corticosteroid; only 3 newborns were fed before 10 days and 6 were fed later (p = 0.0016). Regarding gestational age, 17 newborns were born before 37 weeks and their 1st enteral diet was offered before 10 days. From the 11 newborns born after 37 weeks, only 4 received the 1st enteral diet before 10 days (p = 0.015). Conclusion: Newborn infants born with gestational age below 37 weeks, whose mothers received prenatal corticosteroid, were benefited with the first enteral diet before 10 postoperative days.