Radiologically visible fecal gas patterns in "normal" newborns and young infants.

A prospective study of abdominal and chest films of 212 babies without symptoms of intra-abdominal disease, aged 1 day-12 weeks, showed that the bubbly "fecal pattern" normally seen in older children is rare in young premature babies in the first two weeks of life. When it is seen, it may represent intramural air bubbles and signal the presence of necrotizing enterocolitis.