Retrograde intussusception in pregnancy following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a case report

Intussusception is the invagination of the bowel onto itself. Because of the unary nature of peristalsis, most cases of intussusception are anterograde, making retrograde intussusception exceedingly rare. We herein present a 23-year-old female in her 36th week gestation with a 24-hour history of diffuse abdominal pain, nausea, and hematemesis, 3 years following a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Abdominal computed tomography with subsequent exploratory laparotomy confirmed the diagnosis of retrograde intussusception at the jejunojejunostomy anastomosis. The jejunojejunostomy along with the proximal jejunal common channel was resected, and a new jejunojejunostomy anastomosis was reconstructed. Patient was discharged on postoperative day (POD) 9 with systemic anticoagulation for superior mesenteric vein thrombosis. There are very few documented cases in the literature of retrograde intussusception following gastric bypass procedures in pregnant women.