Postoperative intussusception in a premature infant.

Intussusception occurs most commonly between the fifth and ninth month of life. Affected infants are usually healthy and born at full gestation age. We describe a case of intussusception occurring in a 10-day-old, 700-g neonate born at 28 weeks' gestation. The diagnosis was made at laparotomy 7 days after colostomy for imperforate anus. There were three associated bowel perforations. This case demonstrates that postoperative intussusception can occur in the premature infant. It also serves to illustrate the difficulty in making the diagnosis preoperatively.