Intestinal volvulus in school-age children: an emergency care challenge

Abdominal pain is one of the most frequent reasons for visiting paediatric emergency departments. Intestinal volvulus is an infrequent condition, but without early diagnosis and surgical treatment it has devastating consequences, and it is one of the emergencies that paediatricians must be aware of. Intestinal volvulus accounts for up to 14% short bowel syndrome cases that may require bowel transplantation. A high level of suspicion must be maintained, as the results of diagnostic tests may be nonspecific and normal results do not rule it out. Surgical intervention is the only way to confirm the diagnosis of intestinal volvulus. We present the cases of 4 patients who attended the emergency department and received a diagnosis of volvulus.