Epidemiology of Childhood Intussusception and Determinants of Recurrence and Operation: Analysis of National Health Insurance Data Between 1998 and 2007 in Taiwan

Abstract

There was a male predominance of intussusception with a dynamic male-to-female incidence rate ratio. Children under 1 year of age have the highest recurrence and operation rates. Seasonal variation of intussusception was suspected in Taiwan.

Intussusception patients older than 1 year tend to have early recurrence after pneumatic enema reduction

“…Solomon ChihCheng Chen and colleagues reported a decreasing total recurrence rate by age in their large sample retrospective study. In the study, 43.6 % recurrences happened within 3 days of previous admission date and remaining 56.4 % recurred later [4]. Combining this result with our study, it seemed patients younger than 1 year had a lower early recurrent risk but were more likely to have at least one recurrent episode later during their lifetime.…”

“…Ultrasonography has been widely adopted to screen and diagnose Intussusception is more likely to recur after nonoperational reduction [3]. Overall recurrence rates after pneumatic enema was around 7.9-8.5 % as previously reported [2,4,5], among them, approximately one-third were early recurrences within 72 h after the reduction [5]. Previous studies have failed to identify consistent risk factors for intussusception recurrence and the characteristic of early recurrence are rarely reported.…”

Retrospective Evaluation of Intussusception in Under-Five Children in Nigeria

“…Seasonal variations in the occurrence of intussusception remain controversial; while some workers have reported some variations [30] [31]. Others have noted no variation [28].…”

Beyond appendicitis

“…Following successful contrast enema reduction, children are typically observed for signs of recurrent intussusception or bowel compromise; recently, the necessity of inpatient observation [26] and fasting [27] has been questioned. Recurrent intussusception occurs in 8-12% of children [12,26,27] with less than half occurring within 24 h, and is associated with treatment by enema compared with operation [12,23].…”