Newborn surgical emergencies. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Bochdalek hernia is a posterolateral defect in the embryogenesis of the diaphragm. Abdominal contents enter the thorax during fetal development and result in pulmonary hypoplasia. A cause of respiratory distress in the newborn, the management of this disease has undergone dramatic changes. The defect requires surgical repair, but success depends more on preoperative and postoperative management of the associated physiologic derangements.