Sirajuddin Soomro, Hafeezullah Abro, Fida Hussain Depar.
Intussusception in children: a plea for early referral.
Rawal Med J Jan ;44(2):291-3.

Objective: To analyze the time between onset of symptoms and surgery, to know the etiological and anatomic type of intussusception and to know the outcome. Methodology: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from January 2016 to December 2017 at Department of Pediatric Surgery, Chandka Medical College Children Hospital, Larkana. All those patients who were managed as intussusception were included in the study. Results: During the study period, 47 (male 28 and female 19) patients were managed. The age ranged from 2 months to 12 years. The presenting features were pain abdomen, vomiting, not passing stools, distention of abdomen, bleeding per rectum and palpable mass abdomen. The time between the onset of symptoms and surgery ranged from 2 to 5 days. All underwent open surgery. In majority of patients the intussusception was idiopathic and without any lead point and the ileo-colic was common anatomic variety. 33 (70.21%) patients developed irreducible intussusception requiring resection and anastomosis/exteriorization of the gut. Postoperatively, 8 (17.02%) patients developed wound infection and 2 (4.25%) developed dehiscence of anastomosis. The hospital stay ranged from 4 to 16 days. All the patients survived except two. Conclusion: Intussusception in children is a surgical emergency. Delay in diagnosis and treatment is significant risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality.

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