Focused helical appendiceal computed tomography: Technique and interpretation

This article reviews a focused helical appendiceal computed tomographic technique and discusses an approach to appendiceal computed tomographic interpretation.     

Appendicitis in the era of ultrasound: Are plain radiographs still useful?

We reviewed plain radiographs of 215 pediatric patients with surgically proven appendicitis to study the value of plain radiography for diagnosis.     

腹腔镜阑尾切除术219例临床应用体会

目的：总结腹腔镜阑尾切除术的临床应用体会。方法：回顾性分析219例接受腹腔镜阑尾切除术的患者资料。结果：219例中，215例行腹腔镜阑尾切除术，4例行腹腔镜阑尾周围脓肿引流术。手术均顺利完成，无1例中转开腹，术后无1例发生切口感染、肠粘连、肠梗阻、腹腔残余脓肿形成等并发症，全部治愈出院。结论：腹腔镜阑尾切除术具有创伤小、恢复快、住院时间短、术野清晰、探查范围广、并发症少等优点，尤其在术前诊断不明确时可弥补开腹阑尾切除术的不足，值得进一步推广。     

Appendizitissonographie durch chirurgen — Erfahrungssache? Eine prospektive studie

A number of studies have shown that ultrasound has an advantage over physical examination in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Most of these studies were conducted by experts in the field of ultrasonography. In this study the influence of experience on the results of the sonography of actue appendicitis were evaluated. All 203 patients admitted to our unit between December 1990 and December 1992 were examined physically and sonographically by a team of surgeons consisting of one experienced sonographer and six inexperienced surgical trainees. Laparotomy was performed in 136 patients (46%). Appendicitis was demonstrated histologically in 119 cases (39.4%). Initial clinical findings were positive in 87 (28.8%). Sonography was positive in 119 patients (39.4%). The 163 patients not operated on demonstrated other pathology on ultrasound in 60 cases (19.9%). The rate of negative laparotomies amounted to 7.2% in our study. Sensitivity and specificity for the sonographic diagnosis were 92% and 95%, respectively. They were only 81% and 80% for physical examination. Overall accuracy was 92% for sonography. Sensitivity and specificity for the inexperienced surgeons were 87% and 93%, respectively, while the experienced surgeon reached values of 97% and 98%, respectively. The results of both groups are comparable with values in the literature, suggesting that ultrasound evaluation of appendicitis is not a diagnostic tool limited to a few experienced sonographers.     

DeGarengeot hernia: transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair and appendectomy.

BACKGROUND: The incarcerated appendix in the femoral hernia represents a rare clinical case that was first described by the Frenchman de Garengeot in 1731. Besides the open procedures, laparoscopy presented itself as a treatment option. CASE REPORT: Our case concerns a 38-year-old patient with a right femoral hernia with an inflamed incarcerated appendix. Because of the clinically inconclusive finding, we chose transperitoneal preperitoneal hernia repair (TAPP) combined with a laparoscopic appendectomy. The intra- and postoperative course was uneventful. This case shows that a laparoscopic procedure is possible even in the case of an incarceration in conjunction with an appendicitis that has not spread to the adjacent peritoneum. DISCUSSION: Compared with open interventions, the subjective social advantages (shorter hospital stay, earlier return to work, less need for pain killers, and others) of laparoscopic hernia treatment have been extensively studied. The use of both methods in the case of an incarcerated hernia is open to dispute, though various small series confirm the feasibility. CONCLUSION: Here, TAPP seems to be the more reliable method in terms of patient safety because of the simultaneous possibility of using laparoscopy.     

Valoración de parámetros clínicos y analíticos preoperatorios en apendicitis aguda complicada. Score para predecir apendicitis complicada

BackgroundTo analyze whether clinical and analytical parameters differ according to histopathology in cases of acute appendicitis (AA).MethodsThis is a retrospective, observational study including patients (>14 years of age) admitted for suspicion of AA from 1 April 2014 to 31 July 2016. Histopathology was divided into complicated (including perforated and gangrenous AA) and uncomplicated appendicitis (phlegmonous). Sex, age, temperature of patients on admission to the Emergency Department, symptom duration, preoperative white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil percentage, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), C-reactive protein (CRP) and hospital stay were compared in the two groups.ResultsThree hundred and thirty-five patients were analyzed, and 284 were included. Appendicitis was uncomplicated in 194 (68.3%) and complicated in 90 (31.7%). Age, symptom duration, neutrophil percentage, CRP and hospital stay were higher in the complicated AA group (P < .05). The mean differences between uncomplicated and complicated AA were: age 13.2 years (95% CI: 8.2-18.2), symptom duration 14.1 hours (95% CI: 6.3-21.9), neutrophil percentage 5.0% (95% CI: 3.2-6.8), CRP 73.6 mg/l (95% CI: 50.0-97.2) and hospital stay 2.2 days (95% CI: 1.4-3.0), with p<0.05 for all these variables. A model based on the preoperative parameters (age, symptom duration, neutrophil percentage and CRP) was calculated to predict the likelihood of complicated AA. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) of the model had an area under the curve of 0.80 (95% CI 0.75-0.85).ConclusionThis model is able to diagnose complicated AA without the need for imaging techniques, although it must be validated with prospective analysis.     

Infarction of omentum and epiploic appendage: Diagnosis, epidemiology and natural history

Epiploic appendagitis and segmental omentum infarction are considered to be rare conditions, which may mimic an abdominal surgical emergency. The purpose of our study was to describe clinical findings, US and CT appearance of infarction of an epiploic appendage and omentum, and to determine their epidemiological characteristics and natural history. We retrospectively studied clinical, US and CT findings at hospital admission and follow-up of all patients who were diagnosed at our institution with epiploic appendagitis or omentum infarction between June 1988 and November 1997. We found a relatively high incidence of 40 cases: 20 patients with epiploic appendagitis, 11 with omentum infarction, and 9 in whom it was not possible to discriminate between the both. All 40 patients recovered under conservative treatment without complications. We conclude that US and CT features allow a reliable diagnosis, thereby obviating unnecessary surgery. Discriminating between both conditions is of no practical relevance since treatment and prognosis are identical. Received: 30 November 1998; Revised: 30 March 1999; Accepted: 6 September 1999     

Surgical aspects of an outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitis

Eleven patients with Yersinia enterocolitica infections were identified in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont during October and November of 1995. Three children presented with an appendicitis-like picture. Two underwent appendectomy, one of whom was the outbreak's index case. Both appendectomy patients presented with lower abdominal pain, fever, vomiting, and a right lower quadrant mass associated with leukocytosis. Both had terminal ileitis, and in both, cultures of peritoneal fluid and a mesenteric lymph node grew Y. enterocolitica. Even during an outbreak there is no consistently reliable nonoperative way to separate a sporadic case of appendicitis from one whose appendicitis-like symptoms are due to Yersinia. In addition, a small percentage of Yersinia patients will present with true appendicitis as a complication of their disease. Accepted: 20 January 1997     

Cancer risk following appendectomy for acute appendicitis (Denmark)

Objective: Epidemiologic studies have not been able definitely to exclude that appendectomy carries a cancer risk. This study was conducted to clarify whether appendectomy is associated with a subsequent increase in cancer risk, since appendectomy is frequently an elective procedure. Methods: The present study included more than 82,000 persons who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis during 1977-89 according to the nation-wide Danish Hospital Discharge Register. During a follow-up interval of up to 17 years, cancer incidence was assessed by linkage to the Danish Cancer Registry and compared with the incidence in the general population of Denmark. Results: The total number of malignancies among appendectomized persons was 1.05 times higher than expected with 95 percent confidence intervals of 0.99-1.11. There was no clear significant excess of any specific cancer type. Conclusion: During a postsurgery period of nearly two decades, results of our study did not support the hypothesis that either appendectomy or acute appendicitis are likely to be associated with malignant neoplasms.     

改良Alvarado评分系统与小儿阑尾炎术后病理的相关分析

目的　为探讨改良Alvarado评分系统与小儿急性阑尾炎术后病理结果的相关关系 ,以及在小儿急性阑尾炎诊断中的应用。方法　评估上海第二医科大学附属新华医院上海儿童医学中心外科 2 0 0 1年 1月至 2 0 0 3年 6月间收治 ,拟诊急性阑尾炎并施行阑尾切除术的 2 4 8例患儿临床资料 ,对Alvarado系统评分结果与病理诊断进行分析。结果　评分系统与病理分级呈正相关 (r =0 .4 30 ,P<0 .0 1) ;在预测进展型病理的阑尾炎病例时 ,评分系统的灵敏度为 82 .3% ,特异度为 77.0 %。结论　提示改良Alvarado评分系统在早期诊断小儿急性阑尾炎与确定外科手术治疗 ,减少非必要性急诊手术率和穿孔的危险上有重要价值。