A Rare Case of Intestinal Obstruction in an Elderly Woman

Among intestinal obstruction, intussusception is one of the rare mechanical causes in the adult period. When it is met it present with abdominal pain, vomiting and other symptoms compatible with intestinal obstruction varying on the segments being involved. Compared to pediatric invagination which it is mostly idiopathic the adult form has an organic etiology causing a blurred symptomatology and needing advanced imaging diagnosis like computerized tomography. We present the case of a 70 year old woman with multiple Emergency Department presentations with abdominal pain and vomiting which received a clear diagnosis only the third time she came to hospital. Ultrasonography and plain abdominal x-ray were no specific and only the CT scan revealed the real cause of obstruction. Also conservative measures were useless the definitive treatment being surgery, the lesion necessitating enteral resection and end to end anastomosis. The pathology report revealed a benign tumor of proximal jejunum. In conclusion, adult intestinal invagination, although it is a rare condition, can present with symptomatology varying with segment of bowel involved into the intussusception. Unlike pediatric invagination, the adult one needs standard surgical revision unless there are certain contraindications.