Intussusception is the condition of invagination of a proximal segment of the bowel into the more distal receiving bowel. Intussusception is one of the common pediatric and surgical emergencies of infancy and childhood in Korea. Intussusception
kis
the
most common cause of acquired intestinal obstruction in infancy and childhood, and it needs emergency treatment.
A consecutive series of 225 patients with intussusception treated bvetween January, 1992 and December, 1994 was analyzed.
The ratio of male to female patients was 1.7 : 1. In the recurred cases(N=43), it was 2.3:1. 72.4% of patients were under 12 months of age, and the peak incidence was noticed between 3 months and 12 months of age(70.6%). There was no monthly and
seasonal variation in the incidence of intussusception. But the most prevalent season was the summer(34.2%). The history of preceding illness was observed in 36.0% of patients. The etiology was unknown in most cases(64.0%). The most common
preceding
illness was upper respiratory infection(28.4%).The most common clinical symptoms and signs were cyclic irritability(96.0%), vomiting(71%), abdominal mass(54.2%), bloody stool(47.6%). The duration of symptoms at the time of emergency room arrival
was
less than 24 hours in 86.2% of patients. The most common X-ray finding was gaseous distension of the bowel(46.7%). Barium enema reduction was used initially in most patients. Successful reduction by barium enema alone was obtained in 89.8% of
patients.
Forty three patients experienced recurrence of intussusception, four after operative reduction and 39 after barium enema reduction. Most common anatomic type of intussusception demonstrated by barium enema and operation was ileocolic (70.7%).
Recurrence
rate after barium reduction was 17.3%. Recurrence rate operative treatment was 1.8%.
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