Gastroschisis and sutureless abdominal wall closure

Due to the heterogeneity of gastroschisis, patients able to undergo primary repair probably had more favorable bowel and theoretically would have less hospital stay and feed faster.

Many patients who underwent sutureless repair were done in more recent cohorts and tended towards less interventions.

In sutured repair, mobilizing flaps from the skin and fascia causes redness and bruising around the incision, which puts patients at higher risk for potential infection.

The finding of increased antibiotics needed after sutured repair was expected due to tissue manipulation.

The next phase of the study is examining the same patients over several years of follow-up to assess growth and umbilical hernia repair rates.

The consortium is working on operationalizing protocolization of gastroschisis closure across member institutions for a more prospective study with long-term follow-up.