Abstract

Intussusception is the leading cause of intestinal obstruction in the young child and refers to the condition whereby a segment of intestine becomes drawn into the lumen of the more proximal bowel. The process usually begins in the region of the terminal ileum, and extends distally into colon. Rarely, an intussusception may prolapse through the rectum. Although it is a common entity, no research was done in Jimma. The aim of this research was to assess the incidence and management outcome of childhood intussusception in Jimma University Medical Center. A retrospective descriptive study was done on all admitted cases with a diagnosis of intussusception from 2012-2015 at Jimma University Medical Center. Intussusception accounted for 15.7% of acute abdomen in children with yearly incidence rate of 25 patients of whom 66.2% were male. Peak age of occurrence was between 6 to 24 months. Seventy-five percent of the cases occurred between the seasons of February and May. The clinical triad of abdominal pain, abdominal mass and bloody stool occur in 70% of patient. Eighty percent of cases visit the hospital after 2 days of illness. There was strong statistical association between duration of illness and viability of bowel as well as mortality. 94.3% of patients were treated with antibiotics in primary health care center before referral to our hospital. The most common types of intussusception were ileo-colic and ileo colo-colic type and open surgery was the only means of offering definitive management. The mean hospitalization stay was 8.1±4.7 days and 12.7% death. Incidence of intussusception was seasonally variable with peaks between February and May. The early symptoms of intussusception would seem to be missed by primary healthcare workers with consequently high morbidity and mortality. There is an urgent need to re-emphasize these symptoms to first line healthcare providers.

Key words: Acute abdomen, intussusception, ileo-colic, open reduction.