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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffEmergency medical care is required to treat intussusception to avoid severe dehydration and shock, as well as prevent infection that can occur when a portion of intestine dies due to lack of blood.
Initial care
When your child arrives at the hospital, the doctors will first stabilize his or her medical condition. This includes:
- Giving your child fluids through an intravenous (IV) line.
- Helping the intestines decompress by putting a tube through the child's nose and into the stomach (nasogastric tube).
Correcting the intussusception
To treat the problem, your child's doctor may recommend:
- A barium or air enema. This can correct the telescoping intestine and successfully treat intussusception. If an enema works, further treatment is usually not necessary.
- Surgery. If the intestine is torn or if an enema is unsuccessful in correcting the problem, surgery is necessary. The surgeon will free the portion of the intestine that is trapped, clear the obstruction and, if necessary, remove any of the intestinal tissue that has died.
In some cases, intussusception may be temporary and improve on its own without treatment. If no underlying medical condition is found that caused the intussusception, no further treatment is necessary.
- 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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