Sometimes the nerves that control part of the large intestine fail to form. Without normal control the muscles of that part cannot carry out their rhythmical contractions that move digested food wastes along. Instead the muscles go into spasm , blocking the passage of wastes from the body and causing the intestine above the blockage to swell. The first sign of the disease, as of other gastrointestinal obstructions, does not appear until after birth, when the baby starts to feed. Constipation may then cause the infant to become dangerously dehydrated - the walls of the large intestine normally remove most of the water from food, but when the intestine is blocked, no additional water can reach the large intestine.
Immediate surgery is needed to remove the paralyzed segment of the colon.