Giant omphalocele - Prenatal diagnostics, pregnancy evaluation and postnatal treatment

Abstract

This study describes prenatal diagnostics of fetal omphalocele by ultrasonographic examination, planned childbirth by cesarean section and surgical correction of the anomaly in an older primipara who became pregnant through a spontaneous menstrual cycle after a five-year long medical examination and treatment of infertility. Pregnancy was carried out to full term. Planned cesarean section performed at 40 weeks of pregnancy gave birth to an infant with a giant omphalocele 8-9 cm in size with an abdominal wall defect approximately 5 cm in size. The same day the newborn was subjected to surgery during which the hernial sac containing intestine was repositioned inside the child's abdomen and a paraumbilical defect in the abdominal wall was sutured. The newborn spent seven days in the intensive care unit on assisted ventilation in order to maintain a constant level of intraabdominal pressure. The postoperative period was complication-free. The infant was released from the hospital after 14 days completely adapted and ready for breastfeeding. The rest of the neonatal period remained without complications.