Upright view There is a suspicion of a soft-tissue mass in the right upper quadrant. There is some distention of a single loop of small bowel in the mid-abdomen and gaseous distention of the transverse colon and proximal left colon. No peritoneal free air. There is a paucity of bowel gas. A barium enema demonstrated an intussusception at the hepatic flexure which was successfully reduced.
Intussusception is a common abdominal emergency in young children.
A delay in establishing the diagnosis leads to a delay in treatment, bowel ischemia, and bowel infarction. An early diagnosis is essential. The most common is ileocolic, with the lead point proximal to the ileocecal valve. Although this finding is known as currant jelly stools, it can resemble blood mixed with stool as in dysentery. This can easily be dismissed as being caused by gastroenteritis due to shigella or salmonella.