Intussusception revisited: is immediate on-site surgeon availability at the time of reduction necessary?

The American College of Radiology recommends that fluoroscopically guided intussusception reduction be performed with a surgeon readily available. At many institutions, this may not be feasible. The purpose of this study was to assess the utilization of immediate surgical services at the time of radiologic intussusception reduction.

All radiologic intussusception reductions at a tertiary care children's hospital from November 2007 through August 2012 were reviewed to determine method, complications, clinical status of the child, and time between unsuccessful reduction and operative intervention.

Among 433 patients with intussusception referred for fluoroscopic reduction, 86.1% (n = 373) had successful reductions, and 13.9% (n = 60) had unsuccessful reductions. Five perforations represented 8.3% (5/60) of the unsuccessful and 1.2% (5/433) of the total reduction attempts. Six patients' conditions became hemodynamically unstable during attempted reduction (four perforations, two unsuccessful reductions without perforation), representing 10% (6/60) of unsuccessful and 1.4% (6/433) of total reduction attempts. Percutaneous needle decompression and cardiopulmonary resuscitation restored hemodynamic stability in all cases. The mean time to surgery after perforation was 1.3 hours, after unsuccessful reduction complicated by hemodynamic instability was 2.2 hours, and after unsuccessful radiologic reduction without complication was 4.3 hours.

In this series, complications requiring immediate medical or surgical attention were rare, occurring in 1.6% of cases (five bowel perforations, two cases of hemodynamic instability without perforation). On-site surgeon presence may not be necessary at the time of radiologically guided reduction attempts provided that the attending physician is facile with percutaneous needle decompression and management of hemodynamic instability and that ultimate surgical care can be arranged expeditiously.