INTUSSUSCEPTION AS A PROBLEM OF INTESTINAL OCCLUSION IN CHILDHOOD

Intussusception is the commonest cause of intestinal occlusion in children in the first year of their lives. It is seen in two or four children in one thousand births (2-4%o), being more common for boys than for girls (3:2) with characteristic triad of symptoms: intermittent painful crises, vomiting and stool with traces of blood (as "currant jelly").The analysis encompassed 217 invaginations treated surgically in period of 28 years (1976-2002). In the first year 176 cases have been observed (73.3%), while less than a quarter (41) was older than one year.Most of the children were between 6 and 8 months old, which was explained by weaning process and transfer to varied nutrition, which influenced the increased intestinal peristalsis.The average time before admission to hospital was 12-14 h, which is considered negative because of the existence of classical clinical manifestations and symptoms. Rentgenogram is used for confirmation of the diagnosis in preoperative period. The commonest site was in ileocecal region (75%). Manual reduction - disinvagination was performed in 90% of cases, while intestinal resection was performed in 9 cases.