Spontaneous Intestinal Perforation is not Associated with the Recent Administration of Antenatal Betamethasone

Intestinal disease in premature infants, especially spontaneous intestinal perforation and necrotizing enterocolitis, has been an intense focus of current and past research. The significant morbidity and mortality of these diseases creates a large impact in neonatal care and patient quality of life. In very low birth weight infants, factors influencing a systemic inflammatory response and/or submucosal thinning, including postnatal glucocorticoids and exposure to indomethacin or ibuprofen, exacerbate the development of intestinal perforation in an already at risk population. In this retrospective analysis we hypothesized that antenatal steroids, a glucocorticoid for fetal lung maturity often given to mothers in close proximity to delivery, may be related to the development of perforation when given close to delivery and without adequate time for recovery of the intestinal mucosa (Tables 1 and 2).