[Intestinal invagination in adults: Presentation of a case and a review of the Spanish literature]

Abstract

Introduction: Intestinal invagination in the adult is an uncommon condition, often manifested by non-specific chronic or sub-acute symptoms. In the majority of occasions there is an organic lesion. There are currently no large patient series published in the literature to help define the management of these patients.

Material and method: A review of case series published in the Spanish literature. A data base of patients over 15 years old was designed. Data was extracted from national clinical cases using Internet resources. Our own recent clinical case is added.

Results: A series of 30 adults with intestinal invagination was obtained (29 cases from the review and one own). The median age was 45 years (19-84 years) and 17/30 (57%) were males. A total of 27/30 patients had abdominal pain and 8/30 (28%) cases had established intestinal obstruction. The preoperative diagnosis of invagination was made in 25/30 (83%) of patients. The invaginations were; enteroenteric, 61%; colocolic, 12%; enterocolic, 21%; and gastrojejunal, 6%. A total of 85% of the invaginations were associated with a proliferative lesion and 43% of the latter were malignant.

Conclusions: The diagnosis of invagination in the adult is usually made preoperatively. There are no data to support intestinal resection without performing a reduction. Resection must be the norm and the presence of lymph nodes is no argument to perform large resections.