Perforated Meckel's diverticulum in a neonate.

A case of Meckel's diverticulum is reported in an eight-day-old male baby, the youngest patient to have had this condition at National Taiwan University Hospital. The baby had been affected by bilious vomiting of 3 days' duration and abdominal distension before being brought to the hospital. A perforated Meckel's diverticulum was found during emergency laparotomy. The resected Meckel's diverticulum did not contain ectopic tissue. The narrow lumen and narrow base of the diverticulum was thought to be the cause of poor self-emptying and subsequent acute inflammation and perforation.