
Surgical complications in children with IgA vasculitis  139
Vol. 65(2): 134 - 142, 2024
intussusception in this study, ileo-ileal intus-
susception, ileum-colonic intussusception, 
and jejunal-jejunal intussusception made up 
57%, 28%, and 9.5% of all intussusceptions, 
respectively. Colo-colonic intussusception 
was seen in one patient. Of the seven chil-
dren with intestinal perforation, six had ileal 
perforation, and one had jejunal perforation. 
The incidence ofintestinal perforation is ba-
sically consistent with that in the literature. 
Some researchers have suggested 
19 
that 
air enema is the best reduction treatment for 
IgAV-related early intussusception. Air enema 
is minimally traumatic to children and can be 
done more than once. It is difficult to differen-
tiate the abdominal pain caused by IgAV from 
the abdominal pain caused by complicated in-
tussusception in IgAV because of certain simi-
larities in the symptoms. Intussusception that 
occurs based on intestinal bleeding and edema 
is associated with rapid progression and in-
testinal necrosis. On the other hand, ileo-ileal 
intussusception is the most common kind, in 
which the failure rate and recurrence rate of air 
enema reduction is higher. This study relieved 
intussusception only in four children after air 
enema. 
Children with IgAV-related surgical condi-
tions may develop serious and even life-threat-
ening complications. In this study, shock was 
reported in four children (hemorrhagic shock 
in one patient and septic shock in three pa-
tients), postoperative venous thrombosis in 
three patients, renal insufficiency in one pa-
tient, coagulation disorders in one patient, and 
adhesion intestinal obstruction in three pa-
tients, which required secondary surgery later. 
Therefore, we should improve our understand-
ing of IgAV-related surgical complications to 
make early diagnoses and provide the appropri-
ate surgical intervention.
The use of glucocorticoids for the treat-
ment of IgAV has been controversial. Some 
researchers have suggested that early use of 
glucocorticoids can significantly relieve ab-
dominal pain and reduce the risk of kidney 
disease
 20
. It can reduce the incidence 
21 
or 
prevent intussusception 
22
. Other research-
ers disagree 
10,23
. The use of glucocorticoids 
in patients with IgAV complicated with in-
tussusception may mask the symptoms of 
intestinal perforation or aggravate the intus-
susception
24
. Foreign studies have reported 
that IgAV-related intestinal perforation usu-
ally occurs two weeks after the application 
of glucocorticoids 
6
. In this study, all 21 chil-
dren with intussusception were treated with 
glucocorticoids, and some were treated with 
gamma globulin. The children’s abdominal 
pain and purpura were alleviated. Of the sev-
en children with intestinal perforation in this 
study, four had been taking glucocorticoids 
for more than 20 days, and three of them de-
veloped severe infections with septic shock. 
Therefore, the dosage and timing of gluco-
corticoids need to be further explored. How-
ever, it draws attention that from May 2016 
to 2020, there is a registry of patients in the 
pediatric population that are diagnosed with 
IgA vasculitis (7,374 children), and none 
of the reports state that the diagnosis was 
confirmed through biopsies of white organs. 
There are a fair amount of cases (it is because 
the Hospital is a reference area, or the data 
collected is national or local); they may also 
have other pathologies that could be present-
ed through a similar clinical picture, which 
would explain the large population reported. 
The risk-benefit of a steroid treatment prior 
to the appearance of surgical complications 
cannot be assessed in this work.
Due to the limited study funding and 
time, the deficiency of this study is the fail-
ure to collect the characteristics of each 
case (onset, relevant laboratory tests, treat-
ment time before symptoms and signs, lapa-
rotomy results, air enema treatment, etc.). 
Moreover, a range of examinations evaluate 
the inflammatory response (CB, PCR, Dimer 
D), and the predictive value and prognostic 
value cannot be established with this work. 
Our team will conduct the study in the fu-
ture. Meanwhile, a better collection of clini-
cal, laboratory, and imaging data is needed 
to establish prognostic value in patients with 
said pathology.