{"id":26565,"date":"2026-02-02T14:21:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=26565"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:22:45","slug":"intussusception","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/intussusception\/","title":{"rendered":"Intussusception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Clinical Features and Epidemiology:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Age: seen mainly in infants &lt;1 year. Note can also less commonly occur in older children.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Colicky abdominal pain: pain that is coming and going. When pain is present the infant is inconsolable. Often crying\/screaming and flexing their legs up during episodes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Associated symptoms: there may or may not be lethargy, dehydration, vomiting, recent infection e.g. cough\/gastroenteritis, blood\/mucus in stool (red currant jelly stool \u2013 usually a later sign), or features of obstruction (vomits, lack of flatulence and stool).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On examination: there maybe signs of dehydration and a mass within the abdomen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Differentials:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mesenteric adenitis: presents with abdominal pain that can be fluctuating in nature. Usually involves a history of pain moving around abdomen. A viral cause e.g. sore throat may or may not be found.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gastroenteritis: presents with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Pain is diffuse and fluctuating.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Constipation: lack of regular bowel movement and may be associated with abdominal pain and straining in infants. Pain is fluctuating in nature and infant is often consolable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>G.O. &amp; D.M. &#8211; 3\/2\/26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Any infant who has the above clinical features.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Any infant where the clinician has uncertainty or concern over symptoms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to refer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>NHS Lothian:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bleep the on call paediatric surgery FY via RHCYP switchboard and send the infant to RHCYP A&amp;E. Clinical details can be discussed over the phone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep the patient fasted until they are assessed in hospital<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>NHS Fife, Tayside, and Borders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Please send to local ED for assessment and resuscitation and patients can be referred on to RHCYP if required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Advice to parents: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What to expect when arriving at the hospital \u2013 re-examination, taking bloods, and ultrasound if intussusception is suspected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clinical Features and Epidemiology: Differentials: G.O. &amp; D.M. &ndash; 3\/2\/26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-26565","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"mariamazoysaavedra","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/mariamazoysaavedra\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"Clinical Features and Epidemiology: Differentials: G.O. &amp; D.M. &ndash; 3\/2\/26","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26565"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26605,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26565\/revisions\/26605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}