Interestingly, in nearly all of these patients, the abdomen was found to be soft, nonrigid, and without obvious peritonitis or any palpable mass (seen only in 7 patients). Y-27632 ROCK Further, we observed that in our series, most of the patients had nonspecific laboratory findings/values, without any indication or reflection on the underlying pathology in these patients. Since both physical examination and initial laboratory investigations were nonspecific and did not relay the appropriate information on the severity of the underlying pathology to the clinicians, we argued that the onus of diagnosing intussusception was dependent on further radiological investigations. We found that CT scan was the diagnostic study of choice in majority of patients studied.

Most patients were found to have been investigated with more than one radiological investigation; however, the diagnosis was not established until the CT scan was completed. It may therefore be prudent to argue here that the CT scan is not only sensitive, but is also reliable in establishing the diagnosis early, and thus, in potential high-risk patients (females, young age, and significant excess weight loss), CT scan should take precedence over other investigations in diagnosing intussusception. As regards the treatment, it is clear that surgical intervention is warranted early. However, in deciding how to operate, there is room for discussion. Some authors have suggested that simple reduction without resection is safe, while others have opted to proceed with resection of the bowel to prevent reoccurrence.

Obviously, in cases that necessitate resection (bowel ischemia or necrosis), the latter is the treatment of choice. We found in our analysis that the majority of patients required small bowel resection and revision of the anastomosis. Those patients who were initially not treated with resection/revision subsequently developed recurrence and had to be operated again. Within our clinical experience, we found that the operative technique (open or laparoscopic), length of the limb, or the type of suture material/staplers made no difference in outcome. As long as the patients were treated with resection/revision, they did not develop recurrence. With regards how the revision is done, it is a matter of debate until more information becomes available. We treated our patients both laparoscopically and with open technique. However, because of the limited number of small patients and lack of statistical validation, these findings must be considered in light of clinical experience at this stage. 5. Conclusion The diagnosis of intussusception in adults is relatively rare; however, we are Brefeldin_A noticing an increase in the incidence of this complication in patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery.