Duodenal ileus is a pathological condition in which the passage of intestinal contents through the duodenum is interrupted. The most common causes of duodenal ileus are duodenal atresia and stenosis. Duodenal atresia is a congenital anomaly that implies the absence of a duodenal lumen and occurs due to a recanalization disorder between the 8th and 12th week of gestation. In about 30% of cases, it occurs associated with Down syndrome. There are three types of duodenal atresia. The first type is an intact membrane, the second type consists of two blind atretic ends connected by a fibrotic band, while in the third type this band does not exist. Stenosis is caused by external pressure on the duodenal wall. The most common cause of stenosis is annular pancreas that occurs when the developmental ventral pancreas is attached to the duodenal wall and drawn around the duodenum until it fuses with dorsal pancreas. When the symptoms will occur depends on the degree of obstruction. Prenatally, in approximately 50% of cases of duodenal atresia, polyhydramnios is found. The earliest symptom, which occurs within hours after birth, is vomiting of the bile stained material, since in 85% of cases the obstruction is distal to the entrance of the bile duct. Abdominal distension in the epigastric region may be present. The diagnosis is made on the basis of symptoms and confirmed by X-ray diagnosis. An X-ray shows the typical double-bubble sign. The first bubble represents the stomach and the second the proximal duodenum. Treatment is surgical with the aim of establishing continuity of the digestive tract. Depending on the type of cause, the method of surgery is chosen. In the first type of atresia, membrane excision is performed, and in the others, the obstruction site is most often bypassed by direct duodenoduodenomy. Today, survival is more than 90%, and the rest refers to mortality due to anomalies of other organ systems.