Orange County, CA - May 11th, 2018 - Gastroschisis is a birth defect in which an infant’s intestines exit the body through a hole next to the belly button. Variable in size, other organs including the stomach and liver may also extend outside of the body. Around ninety percent of Gastroschisis cases are identified during the second trimester during normal ultrasound screens.
In the United States, the treatment for this condition is a series of surgeries. Doctors return the exposed intestines and close the hole in the abdomen. We have a clear easy solution to treat this condition. However, in western hospitals, a special bag carries the intestines in a sterile environment while they slowly settle into the abdomen.
In poverty-stricken countries, the surgery, including the bag is very difficult to get due to the high cost of this procedure. This development is intended for use in low-resource countries, where children rarely survive the condition.
Students at Rice University may have come up with a solution, by developing a bag that can easily be duplicated and sent to poor countries. These students wanted to make sure that they could use one bag to help as many babies as possible in low resource countries.
