Perinatology.  2021 Jun;32(2):90-94. 10.14734/PN.2021.32.2.90.

Small Bowel Intussusception in a Preterm Infant

• Jung JH
• Park JY
• Park SH

• KMID: 2522522
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14734/PN.2021.32.2.90

Abstract

Intussusception is a common cause of intestinal obstruction in 6-18 months of age. However, in preterm infants, it is an extremely rare disease. The symptoms of intussusception in preterm infants are similar to those of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Most preterm infants can often be clinically diagnosed with NEC. The NEC and small bowel intussusception treatments are different. In case of NEC, antibiotics and nothing per oral should be used, but small bowel intussusception could be resolved by spontaneous reduction or it should be treated with bowel reduction or bowel resection with laparotomy in case of symptomatic patients. Because of different treatments, an accurate and urgent diagnosis following clinical suspicion is critical using abdominal X-ray and ultrasonography. In this report, we present a case of small bowel intussusception in a premature infant with gestational age of 27 weeks and birth weight of 1,070 g who was diagnosed based on rapid clinical suspicion and prompt image studies.

Keyword

Intussusception; Necrotizing enterocolitis; Infant; Premature