Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jan;84(1):33-7.
doi: 10.4174/jkss.2013.84.1.33. Epub 2012 Dec 26.

Clinical characteristics of acute appendiceal diverticulitis

Tae Joon Sohn  1 , Yeon Soo Chang, Jae Hee Kang, Dong Hee Kim, Tae Seok Lee, Joon Kil Han, Seong Hwan Kim, Young Ok Hong
Affiliations

Clinical characteristics of acute appendiceal diverticulitis

Tae Joon Sohn et al. J Korean Surg Soc. 2013 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: Diverticulitis of vermiform appendix is known as a rare cause of acute appendicitis, most of which are diagnosed after surgery. We compared appendiceal diverticulitis with acute appendicitis to study the clinical characteristics of appendiceal diverticulitis.

Methods: Among 1,029 patients who received appendectomy from January 2009 to May 2011, 38 patients with appendiceal diverticulitis (diverticulitis group) were compared with 98 randomly collected patients with acute appendicitis (appendicitis group) during the same period. Patients' characteristics, clinical features, laboratory findings, operative findings, and postoperative course were compared between the two groups.

Results: Thirty-eight patients (3.7%) were pathologically diagnosed with acute appendiceal diverticulitis among 1,029 cases of appendectomy. The mean age of patients in the diverticulitis group was significantly older than that of the appendicitis group (49.0 ± 15.2 years vs. 25.4 ± 14.2 years, P < 0.05). Mean duration of preoperative symptoms was longer in the diverticulitis group (3.6 ± 3.8 days vs. 1.8 ± 3.2 days, P < 0.05). The site of abdominal pain, fever, signs of localized peritonitis, accompanying gastrointestinal symptoms, and white blood cell count showed no differences between the two groups. Twenty-five patients (65.8%) of the diverticulitis group and 10 patients (10.2%) of the appendicitis group showed perforation of appendix (P < 0.05). Mean operating time and postoperative hospital stay were longer in the diverticulitis group (55.3 ± 28.8 minutes vs. 41.4 ± 17.8 minutes, 6.8 ± 3.4 days vs. 4.9 ± 1.5 days, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Acute diverticulitis of the appendix can be classified into quite different disease entities compared with acute appendicitis. Regarding high rates of perforation, immediate surgical treatment is needed for patients with a high index of suspicion of acute diverticulitis of the appendix.

Keywords: Appendiceal diverticulitis; Appendicitis; Appendix; Diverticulitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Appendiceal diverticulum penetrating muscularis propria layer (H&E, ×20).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Herniated mucosa shows dense inflammatory cell infiltration with lymphoid aggregates (H&E, ×100).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abdullgaffar B. Diverticulosis and diverticulitis of the appendix. Int J Surg Pathol. 2009;17:231–237. - PubMed
    1. Heffernan DS, Saqib N, Terry M. A case of appendiceal diverticulitis, and a review of the literature. Ir J Med Sci. 2009;178:519–521. - PubMed
    1. Kabiri H, Clarke LE, Tzarnas CD. Appendiceal diverticulitis. Am Surg. 2006;72:221–223. - PubMed
    1. Simpson J, Lobo DN, Spiller RC, Scholefield JH. Diverticular abscess of the appendix: report of a case and review of the literature. Dis Colon Rectum. 2003;46:832–834. - PubMed
    1. Collins DC. A study of 50,000 specimens of the human vermiform appendix. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1955;101:437–445. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources