[Intestinal intussusception in the adult]

The main difference between intussusception in children and adults is its mostly chronic course in adult age. Whereas the mechanical ileus is characterized by acuteness the prevailing chronic form will often lead to wrong diagnoses, thus causing a delay of adequate therapy. Sonography, radiologic and endoscopic investigations should be applied for diagnosing this disease. In most cases the indication for surgery does not correspond to the real cause. There are 4 typical symptoms: pain, vomiting, tumour and melena which should induce the diagnostician to pay attention to intussusception also in adult age.