Discriminating necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) and focal intestinal perforation (FIP) is important for clinical trials, observational cohorts, quality improvement and aetiological understanding. Literature suggests that timing and key features diagnose and discriminate, and that NEC subclassifications exist. We used a detailed 10-year cohort of NEC and FIP cases in preterm infants born <32 weeks’ gestation from a single centre to explore antecedent factors, presentation and potential NEC subclassifications. 785 infants had 144 episodes of NEC and 38 of FIP. FIP presented earlier than NEC, but ranges overlapped, and 30% of NEC presented before day 14. Antecedent events (other than feed volumes) and outcomes did not differ between NEC and FIP. Currently used diagnostic/discriminatory features performed poorly, and subclassification identified few cases except transfusion-associated NEC. Contrary to existing literature, postnatal age at NEC presentation was not dependent on gestational age. Detailed review rather than simple definitions are required to separate NEC from FIP. No data are available. No data are available publicly.

中文翻译：

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区分坏死性小肠结肠炎和局灶性肠穿孔

区分坏死性小肠结肠炎 (NEC) 和局灶性肠穿孔 (FIP) 对于临床试验、观察性队列、质量改进和病因学理解非常重要。文献表明，时间和关键特征可以诊断和区分，并且存在 NEC 子分类。我们使用了一个详细的 10 年队列的 NEC 和 FIP 病例，这些早产儿来自一个中心出生的小于 32 周妊娠的早产儿，以探索先行因素、表现和潜在的 NEC 亚分类。785 名婴儿有 144 次 NEC 和 38 次 FIP。FIP 早于 NEC 出现，但范围重叠，30% 的 NEC 在第 14 天之前出现。NEC 和 FIP 之间的先前事件（饲料量除外）和结果没有差异。当前使用的诊断/鉴别特征表现不佳，除输血相关的 NEC 外，亚分类确定了少数病例。与现有文献相反，NEC 表现时的产后年龄不依赖于胎龄。将 NEC 与 FIP 分开需要详细的审查而不是简单的定义。没有可用的数据。没有公开的数据。