ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To identify morbidity and mortality in newborns with congenital defects of the anterior abdominal wall. DESIGN: Descriptive, comparative, and retrospective study. PATIENTS: Thirty nine patients with gastroschisis and 26 patients with omphalocele. RESULTS: Median size of the defect in the gastroschisis group was 4 cm. Infants underwent primary closure en 41 of cases. Post-surgical morbidity occurred in 74 of patients with sepsis the main complication in 61.5. A total of 16.2 died mainly due to acute renal failure and sepsis. In the omphalocele group, median size of defect was 5.5 cm. Primary closure was done in 65 of patients. Complications occurred in 65 of newborns, sepsis was the most frequent complication (46). Mortality rate was 16.6 related to acute renal failure and cardiogenic shock. CONCLUSIONS: The main causes of morbidity in the two groups were infections and acute renal failure. Mortality rate was similar to that reported in the world literature for gastroschisis and slightly lower for omphalocele.