It was first described by Paul Barnette of Amsterdam in 1674. Jonathan Hutchinson reported first successful operation in 1873. As early as 1876, Harald Hirschsprung described a systematic approach to hydrostatic reduction. However, it was not widely practiced till Mark Ravitch popularized use of barium enema for reduction of intussusception in late fifties.
Intussusception is the telescoping of one portion of intestine into another.
Whenever marked hypertrophy of lymphoid tissue of the bowel wall acts as leading point, it is referred to as primary idiopathic intussusception . The majority of these occur between 6 months to two years of age. There is invariably a history of upper respiratory tract infection or gastroenteritis providing an aetiology for hypertrophy of Peyer's patches. An initial attempt at hydrostatic reduction is always made in all uncomplicated primary cases. However, when an infant of less than three months or a child of more than three years present with intussusception, then a definite anatomical leading point is suspected.