Adult intussusception : A 14-year retrospective study of clinical assessment and computed tomography diagnosis.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Intussusception in adults often remains unrecognized. Our aim was to report our experience with this entity to determine the usefulness of CT scan in its preoperative diagnosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The medical records and imaging studies of all patients ≥16 years of age with intussusception, who were managed at our hospitals, were retrospectively reviewed.
RESULTS: 17 cases of adult intussusception (7 males, 10 females; mean age 35.9 years; age range of 16-78) were identified. The diagnosis was possible in all patients using CT scan. The underlying etiologies were colon cancer (n=2), lymphoma (n=2), small bowel polyps (n=2), jejunal lipoma (n=1), metastatic melanoma (n=1), Meckel's diverticulum (MD) (n=1) and idiopathic (n=1). In the remaining 7 patients, the intussusceptions were of the transitory form and were treated conservatively and no significant sequela occurred after a follow-up of 2-60 months. CT scan findings in transient cases characteristically showed that the intussusception was localized to the proximal intestine and all of them had a short segment (2-4 cm) of intussusception.
CONCLUSIONS: The important role of the CT in the preoperative diagnosis of intussusception and characterizing its causes cannot be overemphasized. All transient cases had a short segment of intussusception. © Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica.