Intussusception Presenting as Intestinal Obstruction in Pregnancy: A Case Report from a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana

Anwar Sadat Seidu^1, , David Putiero Suoseg², Mohammed Sheriff¹, Musah Yakubu¹, Emmanuel Agoswin Noah Azure¹ and Edmund Muonir Der³

¹Department of Surgery, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Box TL 16, Tamale, Ghana

²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tamale Teaching Hospital, Box TL 16, Tamale, Ghana

³Department of Pathology; School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies and Tamale Teaching Hospital, Box TL 1350, Tamale, Ghana

Cite this paper:
Anwar Sadat Seidu, David Putiero Suoseg, Mohammed Sheriff, Musah Yakubu, Emmanuel Agoswin Noah Azure and Edmund Muonir Der. Intussusception Presenting as Intestinal Obstruction in Pregnancy: A Case Report from a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana. American Journal of Medical Case Reports. 2020; 8(12):459-462. doi: 10.12691/ajmcr-8-12-7

Abstract

There is paucity of scientific data on intussusception in pregnancy globally which makes it a rare clinical occurrence. The symptoms in pregnancy may mimic obstetric conditions and thus presents a diagnostic dilemma to clinicians. A high index of suspicion is therefore needed in order to establish a preoperative diagnosis. We present a 29-year old woman, gravida 5 para 4, 2 alive and 2 dead (G5P4^2A+2D) at 23-weeks’ 6 days gestation from northern Ghana, who was referred to Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) as a case of acute abdomen. Initial clinical assessment and bedside ultrasonography led to a diagnosis of intussusception. A viable colo-colic intussusception was found on open laparotomy and a left hemicolectomy was performed. This was confirmed by histopathological examination of the resected bowel. There was no identifiable lead point. This case report illustrates how good and prompt initial clinical assessment supported with imaging led to a successful outcome of acute abdomen in pregnancy in a low – middle resource country.

Keywords:
intussusception pregnancy intestinal obstruction Ghana

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