RT Book, Section A1 Gomella, Tricia Lacy A1 Cunningham, M. Douglas A1 Eyal, Fabien G. A1 Tuttle, Deborah J. SR Print(0) ID 1107527910 T1 No Stool in 48 Hours T2 Neonatology: Management, Procedures, On-Call Problems, Diseases, and Drugs, 7e YR 2013 FD 2013 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071768016 LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1107527910 RD 2024/03/28 AB The nurse reports that no stool has been passed in a premature infant that is 36 hours old. Ninety-nine percent of term infants, 100% of post-term infants, and 76% of premature infants (majority are >32 weeks) pass a stool in the first 24 hours of life. The majority of preterm infants have delayed passage (37% in 24 hours, 32% beyond 48 hours, and 99% by 9 days in one study). The time when the first meconium stool passes has been used as a marker for normal gastrointestinal functioning, and a delay can occur because of gestational immaturity, a severe illness, a bowel obstruction, or other cause. Delayed meconium passage can be a predisposing factor for bowel perforation. Males pass stool later than females, and type of feeding does not predict the time to the first stool.