CT features of symptomatic adult intussusception with surgical correlation: a study of six cases

Adult intussusception is a rare cause of bowel obstruction and is often secondary to a benign or malignant tumor. This study describes the computed tomography (CT) features of 6 surgically managed cases of adult intussusception presenting with signs of intestinal obstruction between 2010 and 2012. All had CT scan followed by surgical resection of bowel obstruction. The clinical, imaging and surgical data of these 6 cases was analyzed. Pre-operatively CT scan correctly diagnosed intussusception in all cases. Of them five had a mass lesion as lead point. One had past history of gastric surgery. The tumors were adenocarcinoma (n=2) and one each of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), inflammatory polyp and sub-mucosal lipoma. The patient with NHL had multiple polyps and multiple intussusceptions.Pre-operative CT scan precisely depicted the underlying cause, mechanism and anatomy of intussusceptions. A tumour is the lead point in most cases of adult intussusceptions.