Intussusception in Children treated on the basis of clinical features: A prospective observational study from Enugu State, Nigeria

Intussusception in Children

Abstract

Objective: Intussusception causes intestinal obstruction more commonly in infants and the symptomatology of intussusception plays a significant role in the management of the patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate of the reliability of the patients’ clinical features for surgical decision making when ultrasound is not available. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study of children aged 15 years and below who had laparotomy for intussusception without preoperative ultrasound confirmation of intussusception (group A) from June 2017 to May 2018. The second group of children (group B) was children who had laparotomy for intussusception with ultrasound confirmation in the preceding year. Group A and group B were compared to determine the reliability of the clinical features in surgical decision making. Consecutive children who presented during the study period were recruited after getting consent from the parents and the study was carried out at a pediatric surgery unit of tertiary hospital in Enugu, Nigeria. Results: There were 32 patients in group A and 30 patients in group B. There were no significant difference in the patients’ demographic profiles, presenting symptoms, operative procedures, post-operative complications and mortality of the 2 groups of patients.  However, when compared with group A patients, there were more negative laparotomies in group B patients (3.1% versus 16.7%) which was statistically significant (p=.0.023), at 95% confidence interval. Conclusion: Clinical features of intussusception in children can be relied on for surgical decision making.