Intussusceptions in adults: clinical features and operative procedures.

Objective: To determine the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of adult patients with intussusceptions.

Study Design: Case series.

Place And Duration Of Study: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 1988 to December 2008.

Methodology: Medical records of patients with diagnosis of intussusceptions in adults (above 15 years of age) from January 1988 to December 2008 were retrieved through ICD 9 coding system. Patients with complete records were included in the study and those with incomplete medical record or under 30 days follow-up were excluded. Data was analyzed on SPSS version 16. The treatment outcomes were hospital stay, 30 days-morbidity, mortality and recurrence of intussusceptions during follow-up period.

Results: The mean age of the 19 patients was 37 years with male predominance. Most patients presented with acute bowel obstruction. In 14 patients, small bowel were involved. CT scan diagnosed intussusception in 10 out of 12 patients. Benign lead point were found in 80% cases. Eighteen patients were treated surgically. Fourteen (70%) patients underwent resection with primary anastomosis while in 4 patients only reduction was done. In resection group, 11 patients had resection after reduction and in 3 patients only resection was done. There was no recurrence in resection group. One recurrence was noticed in the reduction group and one patient died of advanced gastrointestinal malignancy in the nonoperative group.

Conclusion: Intussusception is a rare cause of acute intestinal obstruction in adult population. CT scan is a promising diagnostic tool to establish pre-operative diagnosis. Early surgical resection could achieve optimal outcome. Small bowel intussusception could be reduced before resection if there is no doubt about bowel viability. In most of the patients the lead point could be benign disease.