Emergency helical CT scan in acute abdomen: a case of intestinal intussusception

Surgeons are familiar to the nosological entity "partial intestinal obstruction". Intussusception constitutes a rare etiologic factor for this entity but usually remains undiagnosed preoperatively. Several imaging techniques have been proposed as useful in the diagnosis of intussusception but none of these has a remarkable sensitivity and specificity. In the following case of partial intestinal obstruction, we performed an helical CT scan of the abdomen. The method revealed with an excellent accuracy the nature (intussusception) and the location (ascending colon) of the partial intestinal obstruction. Having the extra advantage of the shorter examination time than the classical CT scan, we propose the helical CT as an alternative diagnostic modality for preoperative evaluation of patients with partial intestinal obstruction.