Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common condition in the neonatal intensive care unit that continues to present challenges in terms of diagnosis and management. Traditionally NEC has been diagnosed and managed by clinical and radiographic findings, but US has shown promise in characterizing and prognosticating NEC. In this manuscript we review the abdominal US technique for NEC, the clinical significance of individual sonographic findings of NEC, and how US can be integrated in the clinical decision process for diagnosing and managing NEC. We also discuss the potential value-added role of a limited abdominal US protocol that focuses on the sonographic findings most indicative of a poor prognosis to include pneumoperitoneum, complex free fluid and focal fluid collections.
Keywords: Bowel; Necrotizing enterocolitis; Neonates; Perforation; Pneumatosis; Protocols; Ultrasound.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.