Bowel Intussusception in Adults: Think Cancer!

Abstract

Intussusception is a rare phenomenon in adults and usually presents with bowel obstruction. Unlike child intussusception, adult intussusception is seldom idiopathic and frequently associated with secondary causes such as benign and malignant tumors. While most cases are treated surgically, emerging data suggest a more conservative management approach for patients with short-segment adult intussusception and without high-risk features such as bowel obstruction, mass seen on imaging, colon involvement, or constitutional symptoms of malignancy. We present a rare case of adult intussusception due to unsuspected adenocarcinoma of the jejunum, treated successfully with surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. We favor the surgical rather than conservative approach for adult patients with intussusception to avoid missing unsuspected malignant tumors that are not readily visualized on imaging studies.