Intussusception after pancreatic surgery in children: a case series

Background: Postoperative intussusception (POI) has been described after a wide variety of pediatric surgical procedures, but it has not been reported as a complication after pediatric pancreatic resections.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 5 cases of pancreatectomy-related POI observed between October 1998 and July 2009 within a series of 234 pancreatic resections in children.

Results: The incidence of pancreatectomy-related POI was 2.1%. Postoperative intussusception was observed after either partial or near-total pancreatic resections. There was no sex predisposition. All cases occurred within the first 2 postoperative weeks and involved the small bowel exclusively. The outcome after surgery was uneventful in all cases. The overall clinical course in our cases was similar to that described in the literature for POI associated with other surgical procedures.

Conclusions: The incidence of POI after pancreatic resections in children is significantly higher than the general incidence reported in the literature (2.1% vs 0.08%-0.25%).