TY - JOUR
T1 - Re-assessing the role of the fecalith in acute appendicitis in adults
T2 - Case report, case series and literature review
AU - Tran, Nguyen
AU - Emuakhagbon, Valerie Sue
AU - Baker, Bradford T.
AU - Huerta, Sergio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Published by Oxford University Press and JSCR Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - Appendicitis in adults is thought to occur because of luminal obstruction from a fecalith. We present a unique case of a patient who had her entire appendiceal lumen occupied by a fecalith (5.0 cm long) but had no appendicitis. We reviewed the records of 257 veterans who underwent surgical intervention at our institution for the management of acute appendicitis. Fecaliths occurred in 15.6% of patients. At laparotomy, 20.6% had a perforated appendix; pathology showed fecaliths in 20.8% of specimens. A review of the literature inclusive of 25 series showed fecaliths in 33.3% of patients with a normal appendix, 23.5% of patients with acute appendicitis and 24.9% with perforated appendicitis. These data show that appendicitis is not a common cause of fecalith obstruction in adults.
AB - Appendicitis in adults is thought to occur because of luminal obstruction from a fecalith. We present a unique case of a patient who had her entire appendiceal lumen occupied by a fecalith (5.0 cm long) but had no appendicitis. We reviewed the records of 257 veterans who underwent surgical intervention at our institution for the management of acute appendicitis. Fecaliths occurred in 15.6% of patients. At laparotomy, 20.6% had a perforated appendix; pathology showed fecaliths in 20.8% of specimens. A review of the literature inclusive of 25 series showed fecaliths in 33.3% of patients with a normal appendix, 23.5% of patients with acute appendicitis and 24.9% with perforated appendicitis. These data show that appendicitis is not a common cause of fecalith obstruction in adults.
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U2 - 10.1093/jscr/rjaa543
DO - 10.1093/jscr/rjaa543
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33542806
AN - SCOPUS:85104826548
SN - 2042-8812
VL - 2021
JO - Journal of Surgical Case Reports
JF - Journal of Surgical Case Reports
IS - 1
M1 - rjaa543
ER -