Comparison of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Children with and without Intussusception

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Intussusception is the most common cause of intestinal obstruction and one of the most common causes of abdominal emergencies in children, which can lead to significant mortality and morbidity if left untreated. Since vitamin D acts as a hormone in the body and plays an important role in preventing infectious and non-infectious diseases and regulating the intestinal immune response, this study was performed to investigate the relationship between vitamin D levels and the occurrence of intussusception. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 86 children under 6 years old and above the neonatal age referred to Amirkola Children's Hospital in 2017-2018. The diagnosis of intussusception was made by ultrasound and the control group (without intussusception) was selected from patients with elective surgery other than intussusception. Vitamin D levels of children were assessed and compared in the two groups of children with and without intussusception. FINDINGS: In this study, 50 people were in the intussusception group and 36 people were in the control group. The mean age was 27.2±14.6 months in the intussusception group and 24.7±15.9 months in the control group (p=0.447). The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in children with intussusception was 36.5±14.4 ng/ml and in the control group was 32.7±13.1 ng/ml (p=0.212). CONCLUSION: According to the results of the present study, there was no association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in children with and without intussusception and this vitamin was not associated with the occurrence of intussusception.