CHARACTERISTICS OF CLINICAL SYMPTOMS IN CHILDREN’S INVAGINATIONS

    Invagination (intussusception) is a specific cause of intestinal occlusion, which, according to its frequency, occupies high position in pediatrics’ abdominal surgical pathology. It is registered in children from 6 to 9 months of age, being more common in boys than in girls (3:2) with the incidence of 1-4 per 1000 newborns. In 80 % of cases, the ileocecal and ileocolic forms are registered. Invagination is usually idiopathic (90 %), but sometimes, pathoanatomic substrate may be seen (leading point) in the form of lymph nodes or Meckel’s diverticulum. Surgical therapy for the second group is more radical. The analysis encompassed 22 patients with invaginations - 14 boys (63, 63 %) and 8 girls (36, 36 %), which is 7, 33 yearly. In our study, the most frequent are ileocecal and ileoileal forms (90, 63 %); less frequent are ileocolic and colocolic forms of invagination (9, 09 %). Clinical symptoms are present in the form of characteristic triad: intermittent painful crises, vomiting and stool with blood (currant jelly). Sometimes, they are followed by temperature, collapse, adynamia and convulsions. This triad of symptoms (pain, vomiting and blood in the stool - "currant jelly") is pathognomonic for the diagnosis of this disease. Acta Medica Medianae 2005;44(2): 87-90.

    Key words: invagination, clinical symptoms, currant jelly