4 Interesting Facts of Gastroschisis
- Full thickness abdominal wall defect usually is located to the right of the umbilicus beside normally inserted umbilical vessels
- Variable amounts of intestine and occasionally other abdominal organs may be herniated through the abdominal wall defect; no membrane or sac covers the herniated abdominal contents
- Ruptured omphalocele (lacking covering membrane) may be difficult to clinically differentiate from gastroschisis
- Differences between gastroschisis and omphalocele often include the following:
- Gastroschisis is located lateral to the umbilicus and omphalocele is a midline defect
- Gastroschisis defects are often smaller in diameter (usually 2-3 cm) than omphaloceles (usually larger than 5 cm)
- Bowel appearance is less matted, edematous, and exudative in neonates with ruptured omphalocele (unless rupture occurs early in pregnancy and bowel has been directly exposed to amniotic fluid for a lengthy period of time)
- Gastroschisis is often an isolated abnormality, although a small percentage is complicated by additional gastrointestinal abnormalities (eg, atresia, necrosis); omphalocele often presents with other associated major physical and/or chromosomal abnormalities
- Prolonged ileus is less common in patients with omphalocele and common in patients with gastroschisis
- Overall mortality for neonates born with gastroschisis is considerably lower than omphalocele
- Differentiate based on clinical findings
