The Well-Nourished Infant With Intussusception: Fact or Fallacy?

To assess the nutritional status of children with intussusception, the weight, length, and weight-for-length percentiles of 100 children with intussusception and 100 children admitted to the hospital for elective surgery was determined and compared with the National Center for Health Statistics standards. Of the children with intussusception, 26% were found to have a weight-for-length ratio below the fifth percentile while only 11% of the children admitted for elective surgery had ratios below the fifth percentile. This difference could not be explained by duration of symptoms, vomiting, or diarrhea. Therefore, although children with intussusception may appear "well nourished" they are no better nourished than the general population and, in fact, a significant number exhibit anthropometric data suggestive of malnourishment.