Acute Intestinal Intussusceptions in Children Over Two Years

Acute intestinal intussusception (AII) is the most common cause of bowelobstruction in young children. According to literature, this condition is rare after the age of 2years and is often due to a pathological lead point (PLP). The aim of our study is to report the demographic and clinico-radio-therapeutic characteristics of children over 2 years of age hospitalized for AII. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study on patients over 2years of age hospitalized for AII in the Pediatric Surgery Department at Fattouma Bourguiba Hospital. The median age was 3 years. The complete triad (intermittent abdominal pain, vomiting and bloody stools) involved only 7.14% of patients. Ultrasound was applied for all patients and revealed a local cause in 4 cases. Hydrostatic reduction under scopic guidance was performed as a first-line treatment for the majority of patients (97.32%) and was associated with a high success rate (85.32%). In fact, the majority of AII were idiopathic (92.86%) and only 7.14% were due to a PLP. Twenty-one patients (18.75%) underwent surgical reduction,among them only eight had a PLP.