Cisapride and Caesarean section: Their role in babies with gastroschisis

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the neonatal postoper ative course and morbidity for patients with gastroschisis who received cis apride with those who did not receive cisapride. Study design: Data were obtained by review of the medical records of all th e patients with gastroschisis who were admitted to Sydney Children's Hospit al between January 1984 and December 1995. Data were compared between 15 ba bies who received cisapride with 27 who did not. The mode of delivery and o utcome of babies in whom gastroschisis was diagnosed antenatally was compar ed with those who were diagnosed at birth. Results: Duration to the commencement of feeds, attainment of full feeds an d the length of hospital stay were not statistically different between thes e two groups, with or without cisapride (p = greater than or equal to 0.1). There were more elective Caesarean sections in the antenatally diagnosed g roup compared to those detected at birth and the outcome of these two group s showed no statistically significant difference. Conclusions: Our study identified no benefit from cisapride therapy in babi es with gastroschisis and also there was no benefit from elective Caesarean section for babies with antenatal diagnosis of gastroschisis.