Frequency of right lower quadrant position of the sigmoid colon in infants and young children.

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To evaluate the frequency of right lower quadrant positioning of the sigmoid colon in infants and young children. Findings in 169 patients who underwent enema examination were retrospectively reviewed. Sigmoid colon position was categorized as in the left or right lower quadrant or midline. Patients who had an anatomic abnormality that affected colonic position (eg, malrotation or abdominal mass) or had previously undergone abdominal surgery were excluded. The frequency of right lower quadrant sigmoid position was evaluated for a relationship with patient age (analysis of variance) and sex (chi(2) test). Patient ages were 1 day to 5 years (mean age, 13 months). The sigmoid colon was in the right lower quadrant in 74 (44%), in the left lower quadrant in 73 (43%), and in the midline in 18 (11%). The position was variable in one patient and indeterminate in three. When the sigmoid colon was within the right lower quadrant, it often extended laterally, overlying the position of the cecum and ascending colon. There were no significant correlations between right lower quadrant position and patient age (P =.262) and sex (P =.162). In children, the sigmoid colon is often within the right lower quadrant. Knowledge of this high frequency should reduce the likelihood of misinterpreting air within a redundant right-sided sigmoid colon as air within the cecum in children suspected of having abnormalities such as intussusception.