Medical Case Reports

A Rare Case of Idiopathic Adult Intussusception

Intussusception is rare in adults compared to children. Therefore, cases of adult intussusception are not well reported or easily recognized. Only 5% of all intussusception cases occur within the adult population and only 1% of all bowel obstruction pathology is due to the illness. They are most commonly found in male children, aged 6 months to 3 years old. Many childhood cases tend to be idiopathic, while in adult cases, malignant neoplasms are found to be the lead point at which the proximal segments get caught upon. Generalized abdomen pain is the most common symptom reported in adult due to peristalsis of the intestines occurring over the intussuscepted portion of the bowel. This case report focuses on a 34 year old female that presented with vague symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. After obtaining extensive medical history, ruling out the common differentials, and obtaining imaging of the abdomen, idiopathic jejunal intussusception is found to be the diagnosis in this patient. The patient was treated conservatively with antibiotics and pain management. The intussusception self-resolved and the patient was discharged home.

Author(s):

Anish D Thomas*, Mark Sayegh , Elisha Shah, Jina J Joseph and Mark Samarneh

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