Background: Intrinsic risk (IR) in a surgical neonate is the risk for complication, poor outcome, or death that an infant carries at birth, prior to medical or surgical intervention. We examine the recent literature to identify and categorize the factors that influence IR in gastroschisis and to study the usefulness of this literature for estimating IR. Method: PubMed and OVID were searched for studies published from January 1, 2003, through June 8, 2013, using the search term “gastroschisis risk.” English-language articles that examined the effects of maternal, fetal or neonatal factors identifiable prenatally or at the time of birth were reviewed. Results: Eighty studies were reviewed (median sample size = 102). The majority were retrospective in design. Sixty-two potential IR factors fell into four categories: maternal, prenatal, delivery and patient factors at birth. While 40% of studies performed multivariable analyses, the majority included postnatal characteristics as predictor variables, limiting their usefulness in prenatal and perinatal decision making. Conclusion: The current literature does not provide a robust understanding of the factors that influence IR in gastroschisis. The impediments to estimation of IR in gastroschisis include retrospective study design, inadequate sample size, reliance on univariate analyses, and inclusion of postnatal factors in multivariable analysis.