Transient adult jejunal intussusception

Abstract

Intussusception is a rare cause of abdominal pain in adults. It occurs in fewer than 1% of all cases of adult small bowel obstruction. In the adult population, most cases are the result of some type of intestinal lesion like adhesions, melanomas, lipomas or adenomatous polyps. Idiopathic intussusceptions are an extremely rare occurrence in adults, comprising only 2–23% of diagnosed intussusceptions. This report describes two cases of transient, idiopathic adult jejunal intussusception in a 19-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man, both presenting to the same hospital 1 week apart. Both patients complained of nonspecific abdominal pain and nausea and were diagnosed with intussusception by computed tomography (CT) scan. In both cases, no underlying bowel abnormality was identified and neither required a bowel resection. This report discusses the common presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of adult intussusception and questions whether patients with transient intussusceptions require exploratory laparotomy.