ESPE Abstracts

Background: Intussusception is a life-threatening illness, with incompletely understood etiology, although some predisposing factors are known. Intussusception frequently occurs in well-nourished chubby infants.

Aims We aimed to determine whether patients presenting with intussusception have a high prevalence of obesity.

Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 100 infants presenting with intussusception aged ≤2 years at the Pediatric Surgery Department. Anthropometric measures, history of recent upper respiratory tract infection, timing and type of intervention were recorded. Obesity was defined as having a body weight for length ≥97.7^th centile on WHO growth charts.

Results: The study comprised 58 boys and 42 girls, 31% of whom had an upper respiratory infection in the preceding month. Obesity was present in 18% of patients, based on WHO growth charts. There was a trend towards a higher percentage of obese infants within the younger (25%) (aged <8 months) compared to older age groups (12%, P = 0.085), but with no gender difference. Obesity did not influence the success rate of hydrostatic reduction. The percentage of infants with a weight-for-age centile >85^th was 42%, of whom 7% were ≥97.7^th centile based on Egypt-specific growth charts, The corresponding percentages for the weight-for-length were 29% and 15% of patients respectively.

Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of obesity in infants presenting with intussusception, more so under 8 months of age. The mechanistic link between obesity and the pathogenesis of intussusception deserves investigation.