Intussusception history and symptoms

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

History

Patients with intussusception may have a positive history of:

• Abdominal pain which can either be intermittent, severe, crampy, or progressive
• Vomiting
• Gross or occult - rectal bleeding
• Lethargy which is often episodic

Typical Symptoms

Common symptoms of Intussusception include:

• A toddler or infant presenting with crampy abdominal pain with or without rectal bleeding
•  Inconsolable crying
• Drawing up of the legs toward the abdomen
• Episode occur with 15-20 min intervals
• Vomiting usually occurs after the first episode. Initially the vomiting is non-bilious but may convert to bilious as the obstruction progresses.
• An abdominal mass (sausage shaped), may be palpated in the right side of abdomen.
• Bloody stool or even occult blood
• Current jelly stools which are a mixture of mucous and blood. (This is seen in minority of patients and is a late finding).

The stool is grossly bloody in up to 50 percent of cases, and an additional 25 percent have occult blood [44]. In some cases, the stool may be a mixture of blood and mucous, giving it the appearance of currant jelly, but this is a late finding and seen in a minority of patients. (See "Causes of acute abdominal pain in children and adolescents".)  

Less Common Symptoms[edit | edit source]

Less common symptoms of [disease name] include

• [Symptom 1]
• [Symptom 2]
• [Symptom 3]

Symptoms

The first sign of intussusception is usually sudden, loud crying caused by abdominal pain. The pain is colicky and not continuous (intermittent), but it comes back often, increasing in both intensity and duration.

An infant with severe abdominal pain may draw the knees to the chest while crying.

Other symptoms include:

• Bloody, mucus-like bowel movement, sometimes called a "currant jelly" stool
• Fever
• Shock (pale color, lethargy, sweating)
• Stool mixed with blood and mucus
• Vomiting