INTRODUCTION:
The aim of the study was to evaluate the cases with the diagnosis of appendicular mass, who did not underwent interval appendectomy after ruling out other ileocecal pathologies.
METHODS:
We retrospectively evaluated 58 patients who were treated with the diagnosis of appendicular mass between January 1st 2005 and June 1st 2010. The Diagnosis of appendicular mass was revealed by the physical examination, abdominal ultrasound and computerized tomography (CT). We analyzed, age, gender, the time passed from the onset of the symptoms until internalization to the hospital, hospital stay and investigations after the discharge.
RESULTS:
There were 33 male (56.8%) and 25 female (43.2%) patients. Average age was 46.6 (range 16-80). The time passed from the onset of the symptoms until internalization to the hospital was 10.5 days. Ten cases with appendicular abscess had percutaneous drainage under local anesthesia. One case was diagnosed as inflammatory bowel disease and medically treated. Average hospital stay was 6.2 days. One of the cases had recurrent appendicular infection after 24 months from diagnosis and had appendectomy.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION:
Patients having successful conservative treatment under the diagnosis of appendicular mass may not need to underwent interval appendectomy after ruling out other ileocecal pathologies.
Keywords: Appendicular mass, interval appendectomy, conservative treatment, periappendicular abscess, percutaneous drainage