Pediatric tuina combined with glycerin enema in the management of pediatric intussusception: an observational study

Abstract Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of pediatric tuina combined with glycerin enema for pediatric intussusception, in order to reduce unnecessary invasive procedures, enhance the safety of intussusception reduction, and conserve medical resources. Methods This was an observational study of routine clinical practice with a non-randomized, single-arm design. A total of 128 children diagnosed with intussusception in Zigong Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from September 2024 to November 2025 were enrolled as the research subjects, including 58 males and 70 females. All children had an onset time of less than 48 h, and color Doppler ultrasound indicated intussusception accompanied by at least one related clinical symptom (abdominal pain, vomiting, paroxysmal crying, etc.). All children received pediatric tuina combined with glycerin enema via anal administration as the first-line treatment in accordance with the standardized diagnosis and treatment protocol formulated by our hospital. For children with failed reduction after combined treatment, ultrasound-guided hydrostatic enema reduction was further performed; laparoscopic surgery was adopted for those who failed hydrostatic enema reduction. This was a single-arm observational study with no control group. Results Of the 128 enrolled children, 1 was excluded due to complicated lymph node invagination. Among 127 children who received the initial combined therapy, successful reduction was achieved in 102 cases, with a success rate of 80.3%. Of the 25 failed cases, 23 achieved successful reduction via ultrasound-guided hydrostatic enema (success rate 88.4%), and the remaining 3 underwent successful laparoscopic reduction. Multivariate analysis identified intussusception type, length ≥ 3 cm, and age as independent risk factors for treatment failure, with the predictive model showing good performance (AUC = 0.797). No severe complications were observed during follow-up. Conclusion Pediatric tuina combined with glycerin enema is feasible and safe for selected children with intussusception. This regimen is easy to perform without additional specialized equipment, helps reduce unnecessary primary enema intervention and avoid overtreatment, and may assist in distinguishing transient from fixed intussusception. Even in cases of failed initial reduction, it may provide favorable conditions for subsequent procedures. As a conservative adjuvant therapy in selected patients, this combined modality shows good clinical application potential and deserves further validation in future large-sample, multicenter controlled studies.