Intussusception is an important cause of acute abdomen in the pediatric emergency department. Children between the age group 6 months to 3 years of age present with recent onset of pain abdomen and vomiting (1). Intussusception was considered adverse prognosis previously with fatal outcomes in the past. Prompt diagnosis and effective treatment has lead to better management in the present time (2). In this article, we review the role of ultrasound (US) in the diagnosis of intussusception and its influence on the management.
The clinical symptoms of intussusception are inconclusive in more half of the cases. Correlation between clinical and radiological findings have been reported only in approximately 55% of cases (1–8). US is highly accurate in the diagnosis of intussusception with a sensitivity of 98%–100% and a specificity of 88%–100% (1,5,7,10). These reasons and the high level of patient comfort and safety and the ability to arrive at alternative …show more content…
The majority of intussusceptions occur in the subhepatic region and is of ileocolic type due to hypertrophy of lymphoid tissue at this location. Because deep penetration of the ultrasound beam is not mandatory in pediatric age group, a high-resolution linear transducer (9–11 MHZ) can be used to improve the definition of the image.
An intussusception consists of intussuscipiens (the receiving loop) which contains the folded intussusceptum (the donor loop), which has the entering limb and returning limb. The attached mesentery is dragged between the entering and returning limbs. (14).
Early studies of the US appearance of intussusception similar to a doughnut having a hypoechoic outer ring and a hyperechoic center. Other named signs US include the multiple concentric ring sign (15) and crescent-in-doughnut sign (16) on axial scans and the sandwich sign (17, 18) and hayfork sign (19) on longitudinal
The clinical symptoms of intussusception are inconclusive in more half of the cases. Correlation between clinical and radiological findings have been reported only in approximately 55% of cases (1–8). US is highly accurate in the diagnosis of intussusception with a sensitivity of 98%–100% and a specificity of 88%–100% (1,5,7,10). These reasons and the high level of patient comfort and safety and the ability to arrive at alternative …show more content…
The majority of intussusceptions occur in the subhepatic region and is of ileocolic type due to hypertrophy of lymphoid tissue at this location. Because deep penetration of the ultrasound beam is not mandatory in pediatric age group, a high-resolution linear transducer (9–11 MHZ) can be used to improve the definition of the image.
An intussusception consists of intussuscipiens (the receiving loop) which contains the folded intussusceptum (the donor loop), which has the entering limb and returning limb. The attached mesentery is dragged between the entering and returning limbs. (14).
Early studies of the US appearance of intussusception similar to a doughnut having a hypoechoic outer ring and a hyperechoic center. Other named signs US include the multiple concentric ring sign (15) and crescent-in-doughnut sign (16) on axial scans and the sandwich sign (17, 18) and hayfork sign (19) on longitudinal