A Review of Adult Cases with Intussusception

The records of twelve patients who had been treated with the diagnosis of invagination in our department between 1998 and 2005 were reviewed. There were four women and eight men with a mean age of 24,7±5.47 years. The mean duration between the symptom onset and admittance was 15,6 ±12.12 days. All patients had abdominal pain. Six patients complained from complete absence of flatus and stool. On physical examination there were signs of peritoneal irritation in ten patients and abdominal mass in two patients. One of the patients had necrotic and hemorrhagic stool on digital rectal examination. Invagination was due to benign causes in nine patients, malign causes in two patients and idiopathic in 1 patient. There were enteroenteral invagination in 11 of the patients and ileocolic invagination in 1 of them. Resection and anastomosis was performed in eight patients, deinvagination in two patients, and resection and double barrel enterostomy in two patients. Although it is encountered rarely in adults, physicians should be aware of invagination and consider it in each cases of acute abdomen because of its wide spectrum of clinical settings. The invaginated segment should be resected completely.