Epidemiological characteristics and trends of primary intussusception among children in Wuhan from 2016 to 2022

Abstract

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and trend of primary intussusception in children in Wuhan from 2016 to 2022. Methods Clinical data of hospitalized children with primary intussusception admitted in our department from January 2016 to December 2022 were collected and retrospectively studied. Then descriptive research was performed to analyze the epidemiological characteristics and trend of primary intussusception in recent 7 years. Results A total of 6 506 children of primary intussusception were treated in our hospital during the past 7 years, including 4 457 boys and 2 049 girls, with a female-to-male ratio of 2.18 ∶1. They were at a mean age of 23.56±18.03 months (2 d~12 years). The disease was more common in an age of 6 to 12 months, and 81.16% (5 280/6 506) of the patients were under 3 years old. Most onset cases occurred in July. During 2016 and 2022, the constitution ratio of these children younger than 1 year old was decreased from 41.36% to 16.67%, while that of those aged 1-3 years was increased from 43.80% to 56.28%, and the average age of the patients was increased from 20.04±15.88 months to 30.37±20.30 months. Significant differences were observed in the age distributions between different genders (P < 0.01). For the patients aged < 3 years, the girls took larger proportion, while the male patients covered larger proportion among those over 3 years old. There were no statistically differences in the seasonal and urban-rural distributions of the disease between different genders. Abdominal ultrasound examination was a major imaging method (98.97%, 6 439/6 506). Non-surgical therapy was the majority of treatment (92.64%, 6 027/6 506), with a success rate of 92.25% (5 560/6 027). Recurrence occurred in 376 (5.78%) cases, 56.91% of whom were younger than 1 years old, and among them, 214 (75.27%) cases occurred within 6 months. But no statistical differences were observed in the age distribution and disease course between the successful enema group and the failure group (P=0.024). Conclusion From 2016 to 2022, the average age of primary intussusception among children in the Wuhan region shows an increasing trend year by year, and the constitution ratio of the children younger than 1 year old is in a decreasing trend. For these children with primary intussusception, the age distribution is correlated with gender, and the time of first recurrence is negatively correlated with age. The younger the age and the longer the course of the disease, the higher the failure rate of enema reduction.

Keywords

• intussusception
• child
• epidemiology
• age