Acute intussusception in children seen at El Obeid Hospital, Western Sudan

ABSTRACT

To study the pattern, clinical presentations and management outcomes of childhood intussusception seen at El Obeid Hospital, Western Sudan. This is a retrospective descriptive study. The medical records of children who presented with intussusception during 2004 to 2007 at the University Surgical Unit, in El Obeid Teaching Hospital were reviewed. The data were analyzed for gender, age, clinical presentations and treatment outcomes. There were 24 children, males were 14. Infants constituted 71% of the study group. Patients came from rural areas, mainly during the dry season. They had their symptoms for more than 36 hours, were seen and initially treated elsewhere and only 41% presented with classical clinical features. All patients were operated and found to have ileocolic intussusceptions, with no pathologic lead point. 54.2% of cases had resection and anastomosis for bowel ischaemia, while in 45.8% manual reduction was done. The post-operative mortality was 16.7%. Conclusions: Childhood intussusception was common in male infants from rural areas in the dry season. Late presentation to the surgeon necessitated major operative procedures for bowel ischaemia with considerable morbidity and mortality