Clinical analysis of ultrasound-guided warm saline enema in the treatment of pediatric intussusception

Objective: Few studies have explored using ultrasound-guided warm saline enema to treat acute intussusception in children. This article aimed to assess the effect of warm saline enema on acute intussusception in children.

Methods: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed 169 children who underwent ultrasound-guided warm saline enema treatment for pediatric intussusception in 3201 Hospital, Shanxi, China between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022.

Results: Out of the 169 children included in the study, 156 were successfully treated, while 13 did not respond to the treatment. The success rate was 92.31%, and the failure rate was 7.69%. The reduction time and hospital stay in 169 children ranged from 9 to 54 minutes and 1 to 25 days, respectively. On average, the reduction process took about 20.84±4.86 minutes, and the hospital stay was around 3.79±2.49 days. Among the 169 children, 3 experienced nausea and vomiting, while none had postoperative diarrhea or intestinal perforation. The overall incidence of complications like nausea and vomiting was 1.78%.

Conclusions: A total of 169 children with intussusception underwent treatment using ultrasound-guided warm saline enema. The reduction time was consistent with the existing literature. Complications were small in these cases, only manifested as nausea and vomiting. These findings also provide valuable evidence for clinical management of these diseases.

Keywords: pediatric, intussusception, ultrasound-guided, warm saline enema, treatment.