Adult intussusception in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Adult intussusception is a relatively infrequent, but well documented entity in the Western surgical literature, where the majorities of cases is caused by tumors and require resection. In Africa and other tropical locations, however, other causes of adult intussusceptions predominate and must be considered. As Western trained surgeons increasingly volunteer in developing countries it is imperative to become familiar with the complex presentation and differential diagnosis of this disease. We present an illustrative case of adult intussusception with a complex differential diagnosis that we recently treated during a surgical mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo.