Lactic acid level as an outcome predictor in pediatric patients with intussusception in the emergency department

Intussusception decreases blood flow to the bowel, and tissue hypoperfusion results in increased lactic acid levels. We aimed to determine whether lactic acid levels are associated with pediatric intussusception outcomes. The electronic medical records of our emergency department pediatric patients diagnosed with intussusception, between January 2015 and October 2018, were reviewed. An outcome was considered poor when intussusception recurred within 48 h of reduction or when surgical reduction was required due to air enema failure. A total of 249 patients were included in the study, including 39 who experienced intussusception recurrence and 11 who required surgical reductions; hence, 50 patients were included in the poor outcome group. The poor and good outcome groups showed significant differences in their respective blood gas analyses for pH (7.39 vs. 7.41, P = .001), lactic acid (1.70 vs. 1.30 mmol/L, P