Time of passage of first stool in newborns in a tertiary health facility in Southern Nigeria
Introduction: The first stool passed by the newborn, the meconium, is different from the ordinary stool both in its nature and its implication. Delayed or non-passage of the meconium may represent a number of clinical conditions. In this study, we sought to identify what should be considered delayed...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Nigerian Journal of Surgery |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.nigerianjsurg.com/article.asp?issn=1117-6806;year=2013;volume=19;issue=1;spage=20;epage=22;aulast=Okoro |
| Summary: | Introduction: The first stool passed by the newborn, the meconium, is different from the ordinary stool both in its nature and its implication. Delayed or non-passage of the meconium may represent a number of clinical conditions. In this study, we sought to identify what should be considered delayed passage of meconium in our babies. Aims and Objectives: To investigate the timing of passage of first stool in Nigerian neonates and whether it is influenced by gender, birth weight, maternal age, and parity. Materials and Methods: A proforma was designed to obtain the following data: Maternal age, parity, mode of delivery, Apgar score at 1 min, birth weight, gender, and interval between delivery and passage of first stool among normal newborn babies delivered at the obstetrics department of our center in August and September 2010. Results: One hundred babies out of 393 delivered during the period of the study were included in the study. There were 63 (63%) males and 37 (37%) females. The interval between delivery and passage of meconium ranged from 0.5 to 54 h; mean, 16.2 (SD = 10.57). This was not influenced by gender, weight, maternal age, and parity. Conclusion: Non-passage of meconium beyond 48 h of life could be considered delayed. We therefore, recommend that clinicians should re-evaluate newborns, for hitherto unrecognized conditions, if after 48 h they have not passed first stool. |
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| ISSN: | 1117-6806 2278-7100 |