Hirschsprung Disease
is a birth defect in which some nerve cells are missing in the large intestine, so a child’s intestine can’t move stool and becomes blocked. About 1 in 5,000 newborns has Hirschsprung disease.

Some infants with Hirschsprung disease have signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction shortly after they are born. Common symptoms in older infants and children include chronic constipation and swelling of the abdomen. Certain genes increase the chance that a child will have Hirschsprung disease.