Emergency medicine bedside ultrasound diagnosis of intussusception in a patient with chronic abdominal pain and unrecognized Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

An adult patient presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with abdominal pain caused by intussusception. The diagnosis had not been made despite several prior evaluations for episodes of similar symptoms. The diagnosis was finally made by bedside ultrasound performed by the treating physicians in the ED. The patient's underlying condition of Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome with intestinal polyps was also previously undiagnosed. The discussion reviews and compares clinical aspects of intussusception in adults and children. Sonographic findings of intussusception and their pathological basis are described, and the accuracy of sonography in the diagnosis of intussusception is reviewed.