CASE REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Pediatric Surgery
Laparoscopic Repair for Neonatal Spontaneous Gastric Perforation:A case report
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Lishui Central Hospital, Lishui, China
- 2Department of Central Laboratory, Lishui Central Hospital, Lishui, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background:Spontaneous neonatal gastric perforation (SNGP) is an extremely rare but life-threatening surgical emergency. Open surgery has been the traditional mainstay of treatment, whereas reports on laparoscopic repair in neonates remain scarce. This report delineates a successful case of laparoscopic repair for SNGP in a newborn. We herein detail the surgical technique and elucidate the advantages of this minimally invasive approach over conventional open surgery. Case presentation :A 34-week premature male neonate, with a birth weight of 2550 grams and born to a G6P4 mother, was admitted presenting with a one-day history of vomiting and abdominal distension. An abdominal X-ray obtained at a referring hospital demonstrated pneumoperitoneum, suggestive of neonatal gastrointestinal perforation. Upon transfer to our institution, a repeat abdominal X-ray revealed massive subdiaphragmatic free air, elevated diaphragmatic arches, and central clustering of bowel loops, constituting the classic "football sign." A preliminary diagnosis of spontaneous neonatal gastric perforation was established. The patient subsequently underwent emergent laparoscopic repair of the gastric perforation. Postoperatively, he was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for close monitoring. Full enteral feeding was gradually reestablished, commencing on the seventh postoperative day. Conclusion :In this case, a newborn with SNGP was successfully managed via laparoscopic repair. This case underscores the potential of minimally invasive techniques for managing this condition. The laparoscopic approach provided superior visualization of the gastric fundus and facilitated enhanced vessel mobilization compared to open surgery. The patient's uneventful postoperative recovery exemplifies the documented advantages of laparoscopy, including reduced tissue trauma, diminished postoperative pain, and a more rapid recovery. We therefore conclude that, for hemodynamically stable neonates in centers with appropriate surgical expertise, laparoscopic repair represents a viable and advantageous alternative to open surgery.
Keywords: neonate, Gastric Perforation, Congenital Gastric Wall Defect, Laparoscopy, Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures
Received: 30 Oct 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Lin, Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Heng Zhang
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.