{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T04:13:37Z","timestamp":1788149617403,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]],"date-time":"2026-08-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787961600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Congenital colonic stenosis (CCS) is a rare cause of neonatal bowel obstruction due to a focal luminal narrowing. We report a premature infant in whom a high-grade CCS remained clinically compensated for months during exclusively liquid feeding. Case Presentation: An 8-month-old corrected-age female infant (born at 28+5 weeks\u2019 gestation; body weight (BW): 1095 g) presented to the Emergency Department with acute abdominal distension, bilious emesis, and obstipation, despite a history of steady weight gain and chronic mild abdominal distension. A neonatal contrast enema had previously shown an abrupt cutoff suggestive of obstruction, but this was attributed to a procedural artifact given her tolerance of feeds and passage of loose stools; a rectal suction biopsy excluded Hirschsprung disease. Within four days of introducing complementary solid foods at 8 months corrected age, her compensation failed and complete functional obstruction developed. A repeat contrast enema confirmed a short-segment, annular stenosis of the distal descending colon. Conservative management with a liquid diet failed, and definitive surgical resection with primary anastomosis was performed approximately one month later, achieving immediate symptom resolution and long-term catch-up growth. Conclusions: Reassuring weight gain and liquid stool passage can create a diagnostic trap, masking a high-grade colonic structural obstruction. Clinicians must not disregard reproducible focal anomalies on neonatal contrast imaging based solely on clinical plausibility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13091168","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T02:08:58Z","timestamp":1788142138000},"page":"1168","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Congenital Colonic Stenosis in a Preterm Infant: A Diagnostic Trap and the Potential Masking Effect of a Liquid Diet"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7060-270X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chee-Chee","family":"Koh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, No. 21, Section 2, Nanya South Road, Banqiao District, New Taipei City 220056, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pi-Feng","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, No. 21, Section 2, Nanya South Road, Banqiao District, New Taipei City 220056, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1007\/s00383-024-05725-w","article-title":"Investigations, management and outcome of neonates presenting with distal intestinal obstruction: Challenging the need for contrast enemas","volume":"40","author":"Wells","year":"2024","journal-title":"Pediatr. Surg. Int."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"258","DOI":"10.1016\/j.epsc.2013.07.011","article-title":"Pseudo-obstruction in the neonate\u2014A difficult diagnosis in a poor-resourced area","volume":"1","author":"Weledji","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Pediatr. Surg. Case Rep."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.47338\/jns.v9.524","article-title":"Colonic stenosis in neonates is not always congenital or complication of necrotizing enterocolitis","volume":"9","author":"Upadhyaya","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Neonatal Surg."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.4103\/jiaps.JIAPS_232_16","article-title":"Delayed presentation of congenital colonic stenosis","volume":"22","author":"Natarajan","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Indian Assoc. Pediatr. Surg."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"317","DOI":"10.4103\/jiaps.JIAPS_180_20","article-title":"Congenital colonic stenosis: A rare gastrointestinal malformation in children","volume":"26","author":"Gupta","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Indian Assoc. Pediatr. Surg."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e255898","DOI":"10.1136\/bcr-2023-255898","article-title":"Congenital colonic stenosis: An unusual cause of colonic obstruction masquerading as Hirschsprung\u2019s disease in infancy","volume":"16","author":"Naik","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ Case Rep."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"rjae766","DOI":"10.1093\/jscr\/rjae766","article-title":"Failure to thrive in infant secondary to congenital colonic stenosis: A case report","volume":"2024","author":"Garcia","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Surg. 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Pediatr."}],"container-title":["Children"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/13\/9\/1168\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T03:17:07Z","timestamp":1788146227000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9067\/13\/9\/1168"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["children13091168"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/children13091168","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-9067"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2227-9067","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,29]]}}}