Clinical characteristics of recurrent intussusception: A single-center retrospective study

Scoring System to Evaluate Risk of Nonoperative Management Failure in Children With Intussusception

INTRODUCTION

Typical first-line management of children with intussusception is enema reduction; however, failure necessitates surgical intervention. The number of attempts varies by clinician, and predictors of failed nonoperative management are not routinely considered in practice. The purpose of this study is to create a scoring system that predicts risk of nonoperative failure and need for surgical intervention.

METHODS

Children diagnosed with intussusception upon presentation to the emergency department of a tertiary children's hospital between 2019 and 2022 were retrospectively identified. Univariable logistic regression identified predictors of nonoperative failure used as starting covariates for multivariable logistic regression with final model determined by backwards elimination. Regression coefficients for final predictors were used to create the scoring system and optimal cut-points were delineated.

RESULTS

We identified 143 instances of ultrasound-documented intussusception of which 28 (19.6%) required operative intervention. Predictors of failed nonoperative management included age ≥4 y (odds ratio [OR] 32.83, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.91-564.23), ≥1 failed enema reduction attempts (OR 189.53, 95% CI: 19.07-1884.11), presenting heart rate ≥128 (OR 3.38, 95% CI: 0.74-15.36), presenting systolic blood pressure ≥115 mmHg (OR 6.59, 95% CI: 0.93-46.66), and trapped fluid between intussuscepted loops on ultrasound (OR 17.54, 95% CI: 0.77-397.51). Employing these factors, a novel risk scoring system was developed (area under the curve 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99). Scores range from 0 to 8; ≤2 have low (1.1%), 3-4 moderate (50.0%), and ≥5 high (100%) failure risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Using known risk factors for enema failure, we produced a risk scoring system with outstanding discriminate ability for children with intussusception necessitating surgical intervention. Prospective validation is warranted prior to clinical integration.

Recurrent Ileocolic Intussusception With the Appendix as the Pathologic Lead Point in Children: A Report of Two Cases and Review of Literature

Ileocolic intussusception is a consideration in young pediatric patients with acute abdominal pain. Meckel's diverticulum is the most common pathologic lead point for intussusception in children and the appendix acting as the lead point is rare. In addition, management guidelines for recurrent ileocolic intussusception (RICI) are lacking. We present two cases of RICI in which the pathological lead point was the appendix. The first patient, a two-year-old with no medical history, had intermittent abdominal pain and non-bloody vomiting for a month. Ultrasound revealed ileocolic intussusception, successfully managed with pneumatic reduction. However, symptoms recurred and a repeat ultrasound showed partial intussusception of the appendix into the cecum. Laparoscopic reduction and appendectomy were then performed. Symptomatic intussusception recurred, and a second laparoscopic reduction with stump appendectomy resolved all symptoms. The second patient, a three-year-old with no medical history, had colicky abdominal pain for 24 hours. Ultrasound revealed ileocolic intussusception that was pneumatically reduced. As pain recurred, laparoscopic reduction and appendectomy were performed, revealing ileocolic intussusception with a dilated appendix as the pathologic lead point. Recurrent ileocolic intussusception (RICI) with the appendix as the lead point is common, but RICI with the appendix as the lead point is rare. These cases demonstrate the role of the appendix as a pathologic lead point, and a review of the literature supports the need for surgical reduction. While enema reduction is the first line for recurrent intussusception, surgical reduction is preferred when a pathological lead point is suspected.

Outcomes Following Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Pediatric Intussusception: Analysis Using a National Inpatient Database in Japan

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic surgery for pediatric intussusception has recently become more common as an alternative to open surgery. However, the differences in outcomes between laparoscopic and open surgery remain unclear. Thus, this study aimed to compare short-term surgical outcomes and recurrence rates between patients treated with laparoscopic and open surgery for pediatric intussusception.

METHODS

Patients aged <18 years who underwent laparoscopic (n = 192) and open (n = 416) surgery for intussusception between April 2016 and March 2021 were retrospectively identified using a Japanese nationwide inpatient database. Propensity-score overlap weighting analyses were conducted to compare the outcomes between the laparoscopic and open surgery groups. The outcomes included in-hospital morbidity, reoperation, readmission for intussusception, bowel resection, the diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum, duration of anesthesia, postoperative length of hospital stay, and total hospitalization costs.

RESULTS

The laparoscopic surgery group was older, heavier, and had fewer congenital malformations and emergency admissions than the open surgery group did. Overlap weighting analyses showed no significant differences in in-hospital morbidity (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.88 [0.35-2.23]), reoperation (1.88 [0.24-14.9]), readmission for intussusception within 30 days (0.80 [0.12-5.30]) and 1 year (0.90 [0.28-2.93]), bowel resection (0.69 [0.46-1.02]), the diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum (0.97 [0.50-1.90]), duration of anesthesia (difference, 11 [-1-24] minutes), postoperative length of stay (difference, -1.9 [-4.2-0.4] days), or total hospitalization costs (difference, 612 [ -746-1970] US dollars) between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In this large nationwide cohort, no significant differences in outcomes were observed between laparoscopic and open surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is an acceptable treatment option for pediatric intussusception.

LEVELS OF EVIDENCE

Level III.

Factors associated with in-hospital recurrence of intestinal intussusception in children

BACKGROUND

A minority of children experience in-hospital recurrence of intestinal intussusception after treatment. This study investigated the factors associated with in-hospital recurrence of intussusception in pediatric patients in China.

METHODS

This retrospective study included patients aged 0-18 years-old with intestinal intussusception treated at Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center between January 2019 and December 2019. Demographic and clinical characteristics were extracted from the medical records. Factors associated with in-hospital recurrence of intussusception were identified by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

The analysis included 624 children (400 boys) with a median age of 1.8 years (range, 2 months and 6 days to 9 years). Seventy-three children (11.7%) had in-hospital recurrence of intussusception after successful reduction with air enema. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified age > 1 year-old (odds ratio [OR]: 7.65; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 2.70-21.71; P < 0.001), secondary intestinal intussusception (OR: 14.40; 95%CI: 4.31-48.14; P < 0.001) and mesenteric lymph node enlargement (OR: 1.90; 95%CI: 1.13-3.18; P = 0.015) as factors independently associated with in-hospital recurrence of intussusception.

CONCLUSIONS

Age > 1 year-old, secondary intussusception and mesenteric lymph node enlargement were independently associated with increased odds of in-hospital recurrence of intussusception after successful reduction with air enema.

Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance is associated with higher recurrent intussusception incidence in children: A 10-year retrospective study of 1657 patients

Recurrent intussusception is one of the common acute abdominal diseases in infants, which seriously affects the physical and mental health of infants, but its risk factors have not been fully clarified. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance and recurrent intussusception, so as to provide a theoretical basis for making a more comprehensive treatment strategy for patients with recurrent intussusception. A retrospective study was conducted between July 2012 and September 2022, enrolling patients with intussusception in Children's Hospital of Hebei Province. The patients were divided into recurrent group and non-recurrent group according to whether they suffered from recurrent intussusception. We summarized the clinical characteristics of recurrent intussusception and explored the role of T helper 2 (Th2)/T helper 1 (Th1) cytokine imbalance in it. A total of 2008 patients were initially enrolled and finally 1657 patients qualified for the study. The results showed that the incidence of recurrent intussusception was 18.41% and the Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance was closely related to the incidence of recurrent intussusception. Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance is a potential risk factor of recurrent intussusception and more likely to occur in children between the ages of 2 and 3. Future studies are needed to preemptively target the Th2/Th1 cytokine imbalance to formulate a reasonable treatment plan for children with intussusception to avoid recurrence.

Predicting recurrent cases of intussusception in children after air enema reduction with machine learning models

PURPOSE

To develop a model to identify risk factors and predict recurrent cases of intussusception in children.

METHODS

Consecutive cases and recurrent cases of intussusception in children from January 2016 to April 2022 were screened. The cohort was divided randomly at a 4:1 ratio to a training dataset and a validation dataset. Three parallel models were developed using extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), logistic regression (LR), and support vector machine (SVM). Model performance was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC).

RESULTS

A total of 2469 cases of intussusception were included, where 225 were recurrent cases. The XGBoost (AUC = 0.718) models showed the best performance in the validation dataset, followed by the LR model (AUC = 0.652), while the SVM model (AUC = 0.613) performed worst among the three models. Based on the Shapley Additive exPlanation values, the most important variables in the XGBoost models were air enema pressure, mass size, age, duration of symptoms, and absence of vomiting.

CONCLUSIONS

Machine learning models, especially XGBoost, could be used to predict recurrent cases of intussusception in children. The most important contributing factors to the models are air enema pressure, mass size, age, duration of symptoms and absence of vomiting.

A retrospective study about incidental appendectomy during the laparoscopic treatment of intussusception

PURPOSE

We aim to see incidental appendectomy (IA) was worth or not during the laparoscopic treatment of intussusception.

METHODS

This study included forty-eight patients who underwent a laparoscopic procedure for idiopathic intussusception without intestinal resection between April 2014 and April 2021. The Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables and the Student t-test for continuous variables were used to analyze and compare patient characteristics.

RESULTS

IA was performed on 63% (30/48) of patients after surgical reduction, while 18 (37%), did not. Patients who underwent IA had a higher total cost (16,618 ± 2,174 vs.14,301 ± 5,206, P = 0.036), and a longer mean operation duration (59 ± 19 vs.45 ± 21, P = 0.025). The distribution of the PO time, length of hospital stay, PCs, and RI did not differ significantly. The histopathological evaluation of the 30 resected appendices revealed five (17%) with signs of acute inflammation, 20 (66%) with chronic signs of inflammation, and five (17%) with inconspicuous appendices.

CONCLUSION

IA is linked to a longer average operation time and a higher total cost. There is insufficient evidence to recommend IA during laparoscopic intussusception treatment. The risks and benefits of IA need further study.

Development and Validation of a Nomogram for Predicting Pathological Intussusceptions in Children Prior to Surgical Intervention

PURPOSE

Establish and validate a nomogram to help predict the preoperative risk of a pathological intussusception.

METHODS

A primary cohort of patients who underwent surgery for an intussusception were enrolled from one center, while a validation cohort consisted of patients from another center. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the variables to build the nomogram. A calibration curve accompanied by the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to assess the calibration of the nomogram. To quantify the discrimination of the nomogram, Harrell's C-index was calculated. The performance of the validated nomogram was tested in the external validation cohort. The logistic regression formulae created during the analysis of the primary cohort was applied to all patients in the external validation cohort, and the total points for each patient were calculated.

RESULTS

The primary cohort consisted of 368 patients and the validation cohort included 74. The LASSO logistic algorithm identified three (recurrence episodes, mass size, and infection history) out of 11 potential clinical variables as significantly predictive of a pathologic intussusception. The C-index for the predictive nomogram was 0.922 (95% CI, 0.885-0.959) for the primary cohort and 0.886 (95% CI, 0.809-0.962) for the validation cohort. The decision curve showed that if the threshold probability of a patient in the validation cohort was > 7%, then the nomogram was more beneficial than either indiscriminately treating all or none of the patients.

CONCLUSION

We developed a nomogram based on clinical risk factors that could be used to individually predict pathological intussusceptions in children prior to surgical intervention.