Cisapride and caesarean section: their role in babies with gastroschisis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the neonatal postoperative course and morbidity for patients with gastroschisis who received cisapride with those who did not receive cisapride. Study design: Data were obtained by review of the medical records of all the patients with gastroschisis who were admitted to Sydney Children’s Hospital between January 1984 and December 1995. Data were compared between 15 babies who received cisapride with 27 who did not. The mode of delivery and outcome of babies in whom gastroschisis was diagnosed antenatally was compared with those who were diagnosed at birth. Results: Duration to the commencement of feeds, attainment of full feeds and the length of hospital stay were not statistically different between these two groups, with or without cisapride (p = ≥ 0.1). There were more elective Caesarean sections in the antenatally diagnosed group compared to those detected at birth and the outcome of these two groups showed no statistically significant difference. Conclusions: Our study identified no benefit from cisapride therapy in babies with gastroschisis and also there was no benefit from elective Caesarean section for babies with antenatal diagnosis of gastroschisis.