How do doctors diagnose and treat gastroschisis?

Doctors use a prenatal ultrasound to diagnose gastroschisis. Upon the baby's birth, doctors take action immediately, administering antibiotics to combat infection. The baby also may be placed in a sterile bowel bag that rises to the chest and insulates the baby from dangerous infections. If the abdomen is large enough at birth to receive the protruding organs, the opening may be surgically closed after birth.

Often, however, the abdomen is too small, so a device known as a preformed silo is used to soften the intestines gradually and then to ease them back into the abdomen. When the baby is a couple of weeks old, surgeons seal the hole. Barring complications, the baby's chances for recovery are good.