Incidence of acute intussusception among infants in eastern France: results of the EPIstudy trial

The incidence of intussusception in infants varies around the world. The epidemiology of intussusception in France has never been prospectively studied. We performed a prospective observational study with systematic inclusion of all infants aged <1 year with suspected intussusception admitted to the emergency departments of the hospitals in the eastern region of France (98,000 live births per year), from 4/1/2008 to 3/31/2012. Cases were classified using the Brighton Collaboration classification. In total, 185 infants with suspected intussusception were included of which 169 were idiopathic intussusception. Among these 169 cases, 115 (68%) were classed as Brighton level 1 (confirmed cases). Overall incidence of intussusception over the 4 years of the study was 29.8 (95% CI 24.6–35.7) cases per 100,000 live births for level 1 and 37.5 (95% CI 31.7–44.2) cases per 100,000 live births for all cases (levels 1–4). Annual incidence rates of level 1 intussusception were as follows: 44 (95% CI 31.9–59.3), 30.9 (20.9–44.2), 21.7 (13.4–33.2) and 22.1 (13.7–33.8) per 100,000 live births in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th study years, respectively.

Conclusion: The incidence rate of intussusception in the eastern part of France is comparable to that of other European countries. There was a significant trend towards a decrease in the incidence of intussusception.