Young girl has intussusception due to polyps

Intussusception is a condition in which part of the intestine slips and nests into another part of the intestine, blocking food and preventing digestive fluid from circulating. On October 31, Dr. Nguyen Cong Uan, Center for Endoscopy and Gastrointestinal Surgery, said that intussusception is very rare in adults, the incidence is about 2-5%. The disease is common in young children, especially children under one year old, accounting for 90%.

The cause of intussusception in adults is often due to tumors such as cancer, polyps, or other benign lesions in the small intestine or colon like Hien. Intussusception is a condition that requires urgent emergency surgery to avoid more serious infection, causing dehydration and electrolytes, risk of intestinal necrosis, and intestinal rupture.

The endoscopic surgeon removed the cage using the Olympus 4K/3D endoscopic system. The 4K resolution endoscope, combined with 3D technology, helps doctors observe more detail and accuracy, determining the correct location of polyps. The team removed the damaged small intestine containing the polyp, connecting the two ends of the small intestine.

After surgery, Hien’s health improved, she no longer had abdominal pain, and could defecate. The patient drinks sugar water and eats thin porridge for a day, then gradually switches to a solid diet, expected to be discharged from the hospital 5 days after discharge. Surgical results of benign polyps. However, the patient needs a capsule endoscopy to re-examine the entire digestive tract and small intestine after the next two months. Because the small intestine is considered a “blind spot” that conventional stomach and colon endoscopy cannot access, according to Dr. Uan.

The patient drinks a capsule with a camera attached to move through the digestive tract from the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and is expelled through the excretory tract. All images captured by the camera help doctors visually observe the inside of the digestive tract. This is also a necessary check to make sure the patient no longer has polyps and to prevent the disease from recurring.

Intussusception can occur in any location of the intestine. If patients with intussusception are detected early, when the intestine is damaged, treatment is simpler. However, because the disease’s symptoms are easily confused with other digestive diseases such as acute gastroenteritis, constipation, nausea, and vomiting, most patients go to the doctor late, when complications already exist. According to Dr. Uan, it is important to detect symptoms of intestinal obstruction, provide timely diagnosis, and treatment based on the cause, location of intussusception, and lesions.