Gastroschisis and omphalocele.

The newborn who has an abdominal wall defect is one of the most dramatic presentations in medicine and offers many challenging problems to the pediatric surgeon. This article presents the basics of the two most common abdominal wall defectsdgastroschisis and omphaloceledincluding principles and options of prenatal, postnatal, and surgical management. Although textbooks group the two entities together, they are separate and distinct and have many important differences in pathology and associated conditions that explain the differences in treatment plans and outcomes. Understanding the similarities and differences between gastroschisis and omphalocele is essential for patient management; therefore, the following sections first acknowledge the similarities and then emphasize the differences.