Predictive Factors for Bowel Resection in Childhood Intussusception

Background: Intestinal intussusception is the most common cause of intestinal obstruction in infants and children under 3 years of age. Any delay in diagnosis or management can lead to intestinal ischaemia and perforation. The aim of this study is to determine the sociodemographic and clinical risk factors associated with bowel resection in infants and children with intussusception.

Materials and methods: This is a retrospective analytical study of 118 patients operated at the Hassan II Hospital and University of Fez between 1 January 2008 and 1 January 2018. A comparison of risk factors between patients with and without bowel resection was performed using multivariate logistic regression.

Results: One hundred and eighteen patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 44% had undergone bowel resection. Age >2 years (P = 0.006), duration of symptoms progression of more than 2 days (P = 0.002), bilious vomiting (P = 0.04) and palpation of an abdominal mass (P = 0.01) were significantly associated with bowel resection. Multivariate logistic regression showed that age <2 years (odds ratio [OR] =4.47 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12-17.78) and duration of symptom progression of more than 2 days (OR = 2.62 95% CI: 1.12-6.11) were independent risk factors for bowel resection.

Conclusion: Intussusception that occurs in child old than 2 years of age, or which has progressed for more than 2 days, is associated with an increased risk of intestinal resection.