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. 2022 Apr:93:107009.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2022.107009. Epub 2022 Apr 2.

An ileo-colic intussusception reaching down to the descending colon - A case report

Hugo Teixeira  1 , Fabian Hauswirth  2 , Nina Römer  3 , Markus K Muller  4 , Matthias Baechtold  5
Affiliations

An ileo-colic intussusception reaching down to the descending colon - A case report

Hugo Teixeira et al. Int J Surg Case Rep. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction and importance: Intussusception in healthy adults is rare and often associated with oncologic diseases. This case report presents a case of an ileo-colic intussusception reaching down to the descending colon in a healthy adult that required ileo-colic resection.

Case presentation: We present a case of a 78-year-old male patient with acute onset unspecific abdominal pain. The medical history was unremarkable. Preoperative radiologic assessments showed an invagination of the small intestine into the colon without any signs of polyps or tumours. An emergency laparotomy with resection of the affected intestine was performed. The pathologist described a 49 cm length of intussuscepted colon and an additional 7 cm intussusception of the terminal ileum. A circular area with multiple polyps extending over 8 cm in the colon could be identified. The microscopic findings showed a low-grade dysplasia within this area. Following surgery, the patient was discharged to rehabilitation after a ten-day hospitalization.

Clinical discussion: Intussusception in adults is rare and the clinical presentation includes unspecific symptoms making the diagnosis challenging. In 90% of the cases, a pathologic lesion is found (two-thirds are neoplasms). An intussusception involving the colon should be treated surgically without prior reduction due to the high incidence of a neoplasm and the risk for perforation and tumour dissemination.

Conclusion: In the literature, neoplastic disease represents the major cause for intussusception in adults. This report presents a rare case of an ileo-colic intussusception reaching down to the descending colon treated successfully with a subtotal colectomy.

Keywords: Bowel obstruction; Case report; Intussusception; colon resection.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors declared any conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CT scan of the abdomen. Coronal plane showing an ileo-colic intussusception with classic ‘sausage-shaped mass’ (arrow).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CT scan of the abdomen. Axial plane showing an ileo-colic intussusception with the classic ‘bulls-eye’ appearance (arrow).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Surgical specimen during pathological examination and after incision of the colon wall showing the intussusception reaching down to the descending colon (asterisk). The circular area with multiple polyps (arrow) acted as the leading point.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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