Intussusception patients older than 1 year tend to have early recurrence after pneumatic enema reduction

Purpose To identify age risk factors of early recurrent intussusception after pneumatic enema reduction. Management opinions are proposed. Methods Two thousand two hundred and ninety-five intussusception patients’ medical records from January 2009 to December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Results Of the 2295 patients, the intussusception of 1917 of them was initially reduced by pneumatic enema, with 127 cases recurring within 72 h. The early recurrence rate is 6.62 %. The early recurrence rate of patients younger than 1 year old is 2.1 % (22/1032), while the rate for those older than 1 year is 11.9 % (105/885). The difference is significant ( P = 0.0001). There were no significant differences between age groups older than 1 year. One hundred and seventeen cases of recurrence happened within 48 h, which accounted for 92.1 % of all early recurrence. Recurrence patients were treated again with pneumatic enema, with a successful reduction in 93.7 %. They were followed up for 2–4 years; the long-term recurrent rate was 11.8 % (14/119). No patient had poor prognosis because of delayed treatment. Conclusion Intussusception patients older than 1 year tend to have greater early recurrence rate after pneumatic enema reduction; 92.1 % of the early recurrent cases happened in 48 h. There is no need to hospitalize patients after pneumatic enema reduction. A repeat pneumatic enema is a good choice before surgical approach.