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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Your intestine is shaped like a long tube. Intussusception is a disorder in which one part of your intestine — usually the small intestine — slides inside another part. This is sometimes referred to as "telescoping" because it's similar to the way a collapsible telescope folds together.
Some medical conditions may cause intussusception. But, in many cases, doctors can't determine the exact cause. If you're an adult when you develop intussusception, it's more likely that an underlying medical condition is causing the problem.
Children
For most cases of intussusception in children, the cause is unknown. Possible triggers may be:
- Viral infection
- A noncancerous growth or a cancerous tumor in the intestine
In the past, some cases of intussusception seemed to be associated with a version of the rotavirus vaccine. Rotavirus is a childhood illness that causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and dehydration. That vaccine was removed from the market in 1999. There's no evidence that a newer rotavirus vaccine (RotaTeq) causes intussusception.
Adults
In adults, the cause of intussusception may be:
- Noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant) growths
- Scar-like tissue in the intestine (adhesions)
- Surgical scars in the small intestine or colon
- Problems with the movement of food through the digestive tract (motility disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastroparesis and Hirschsprung's disease)
- Long-term (chronic) diarrhea
- Intussusception. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec19/ch275/ch275c.html?qt=intussusception&alt=sh. Accessed July 25, 2010.
- Kitigawa S, et al. Intussusception in children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 20, 2010.
- Anatomic problems of the colon. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/anatomiccolon/. Accessed July 25, 2010.
- Sondheimer JM, et al. Gastrointestinal tract. In: Hay WW, Jr., et al. Current Diagnosis and Treatment: Pediatrics. 19th ed. New York, N.Y.; McGraw Hill Medical: 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3403837. Accessed July 26, 2010.
- Rotavirus vaccine (RotaShield) and intussusception. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/rotavirus/vac-rotashield-historical.htm. Accessed July 26, 2010.
- Waseem M, et al. Intussusception. Pediatric Emergency Care. 2008;24:793.
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