Epidemiology of intussusception among infants in Ethiopia, 2013-2016.

INTRODUCTION: intussusception is a condition in which one segment of the bowel prolapses into another causing obstruction. Information on the epidemiology of intussusception in sub-Saharan Africa is limited. We describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children with intussusception in Ethiopia. METHODS: active surveillance for children < 12 months of age with intussusception was conducted at six sentinel hospitals in Ethiopia. Limited socio-economic and clinical data were collected from enrolled children. Characteristics among children who died and children who survived were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous variables and Chi-square tests for categorical variables. RESULTS: total of 164 children < 12 months of age with intussusception were enrolled; 62% were male. The median age at symptom onset was 6 months with only 12 (7%) of cases occurring in the first 3 months of life. Intussusception was reduced by surgery in 90% of cases and 10% were reduced by enema; 13% of cases died. Compared to survivors, children who died had a significantly longer time to presentation to the first health care facility and to the treating health care facility (median 3 days versus 2 days, p = 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSION: the high mortality rate, late presentation of intussusception cases, and lack of modalities for non-surgical management at some facilities highlight the need for better management of intussusception cases in Ethiopia.

Risk Factors Associated With Increased Mortality From Intussusception in African Infants.

OBJECTIVES: Morbidity and mortality from intussusception, the leading cause of bowel obstruction in infants, is higher in Africa than in other regions of the world, but the reasons have not been well examined. We sought to identify risk and protective factors associated with death or intestinal resection following intussusception. METHODS: Infants with intussusception from 7 sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) were enrolled through active, hospital-based surveillance from February 2012 to December 2016. We examined demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic factors associated with death or intestinal resection following intussusception, using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 1017 infants <1 year of age with intussusception were enrolled. Overall, 13% of children (133/1017) died during the hospitalization, and 48% (467/966) required intestinal resection. In multivariable analyses, female sex [odds ratio (OR) 1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-3.3], longer duration of symptoms before presentation (OR 1.1; 95% CI 1.0-1.2), and undergoing intestinal resection (OR 3.4; 95% CI 1.9-6.1) were associated with death after intussusception. Diagnosis by ultrasound or enema (OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.3-0.7), and employment of a household member (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.4-1.0) were protective against intestinal resection. CONCLUSIONS: Delays in hospital presentation and female sex were significantly associated with death, whereas higher socioeconomic status and availability of radiologic diagnosis reduced likelihood of undergoing resection. Efforts should be intensified to improve the awareness, diagnosis, and management of intussusception in sub-Saharan African countries to reduce morbidity and mortality from intussusception in these resource-limited settings.