Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon

Objective To highlight a new phenomenon that we have encountered in children during the past 5 years. Children in this group have a pathognomonic clinical picture of sudden acute severe abdominal colic during which the child is continuously screaming for 1–2 min. All these patients were initially di...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mohamed Amin El-Gohary
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2015-12-01
Series:BMJ Open Gastroenterology
Online Access:https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000023.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823860369911709696
author Mohamed Amin El-Gohary
author_facet Mohamed Amin El-Gohary
author_sort Mohamed Amin El-Gohary
collection DOAJ
description Objective To highlight a new phenomenon that we have encountered in children during the past 5 years. Children in this group have a pathognomonic clinical picture of sudden acute severe abdominal colic during which the child is continuously screaming for 1–2 min. All these patients were initially diagnosed on clinical and ultrasonographic grounds as acute intussusception. Careful interpretation of the radiological findings revealed faecal impaction of the terminal ileum and caecum.Design This is a retrospective study looking at children presenting between 2009 and 2014 with acute severe abdominal colic pain. These were 11 patients aged 9 months to 5 years. We reviewed our experience in the management and diagnosis of these patients.Result All patients were diagnosed initially as intussusception, which was confirmed by ultrasonography (US). US revealed an appearance mimicking intussusception, 3 cases of which were intermittent. This US appearance proved to be a hard stool filling the terminal ileum. In all patients, abdominal X-ray revealed stool at the right side of the colon filling the caecum. Diagnostic gastrografin enemas that were performed in four patients excluded intussusception and confirmed stool at the caecum and ascending colon. In none of those patients had contrast passed into the terminal ileum. There was dramatic response to fleet and/or gastrografin enemas. Five patients required a second dose of enema and two patients required three doses.Conclusions We highlight a new phenomenon of severe abdominal pain caused by faecal impaction of the terminal ileum and caecum. Increased awareness of this condition helps to avoid unnecessary investigations and/or surgical exploration.
format Article
id doaj-art-ba6f6e56f8234ac7a5c0650b020ebd7a
institution Kabale University
issn 2054-4774
language English
publishDate 2015-12-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series BMJ Open Gastroenterology
spelling doaj-art-ba6f6e56f8234ac7a5c0650b020ebd7a2025-02-10T15:10:11ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Gastroenterology2054-47742015-12-012110.1136/bmjgast-2014-000023Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenonMohamed Amin El-GoharyObjective To highlight a new phenomenon that we have encountered in children during the past 5 years. Children in this group have a pathognomonic clinical picture of sudden acute severe abdominal colic during which the child is continuously screaming for 1–2 min. All these patients were initially diagnosed on clinical and ultrasonographic grounds as acute intussusception. Careful interpretation of the radiological findings revealed faecal impaction of the terminal ileum and caecum.Design This is a retrospective study looking at children presenting between 2009 and 2014 with acute severe abdominal colic pain. These were 11 patients aged 9 months to 5 years. We reviewed our experience in the management and diagnosis of these patients.Result All patients were diagnosed initially as intussusception, which was confirmed by ultrasonography (US). US revealed an appearance mimicking intussusception, 3 cases of which were intermittent. This US appearance proved to be a hard stool filling the terminal ileum. In all patients, abdominal X-ray revealed stool at the right side of the colon filling the caecum. Diagnostic gastrografin enemas that were performed in four patients excluded intussusception and confirmed stool at the caecum and ascending colon. In none of those patients had contrast passed into the terminal ileum. There was dramatic response to fleet and/or gastrografin enemas. Five patients required a second dose of enema and two patients required three doses.Conclusions We highlight a new phenomenon of severe abdominal pain caused by faecal impaction of the terminal ileum and caecum. Increased awareness of this condition helps to avoid unnecessary investigations and/or surgical exploration.https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000023.full
spellingShingle Mohamed Amin El-Gohary
Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon
BMJ Open Gastroenterology
title Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon
title_full Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon
title_fullStr Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon
title_full_unstemmed Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon
title_short Severe colic mimicking intussusception: a new phenomenon
title_sort severe colic mimicking intussusception a new phenomenon
url https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000023.full
work_keys_str_mv AT mohamedaminelgohary severecolicmimickingintussusceptionanewphenomenon