What condition describes the telescoping of one bowel segment into another?

Intussusception is the condition characterized by one segment of the bowel sliding or telescoping into an adjacent segment. This occurs most commonly in children but can also affect adults. The process can lead to obstructed blood flow to the affected bowel segment, resulting in pain, swelling, and potentially more severe complications such as ischemia or perforation of the bowel if not treated promptly.

The mechanism behind intussusception typically involves a lead point, which can be a tumor or a polyp that causes the bowel to fold inwards on itself. Symptoms of intussusception are often acute abdominal pain and may include a "currant jelly" stool, which indicates bleeding in the bowel.

In contrast, cecal volvulus involves a twisting of the cecum leading to obstruction, eventration refers to the protrusion of tissue through the surgical incision or muscle wall, and colitis is an inflammation of the colon that does not involve the telescoping of bowel segments. Each of these conditions has distinct pathophysiological mechanisms and presents differently in clinical settings.