Appendiceal intussusception

Appendiceal intussusception (AI) is an unusual and rarely reported clinical entity. It was first described by McKidd in a 7-year-old boy in 1858. Since then the literature on it has been confined to a few case reports and very small cases series, in totally about 300 cases being published. Because of variations of clinical symptoms and lack of pathognomonic sign, rarety of the pathology and diversity of causing factors, accurately detection of the presence or absence of appendiceal pathology is difficult. However, imagistic and endoscopic methods may be useful in AI detection and play a large and important role in differential diagnosis. Treatment of AI differs significantly depending on underlying pathological condition, benign or malignant.

Appendiceal intussusception from endometriosis

An asymptomatic 39-year-old woman was noted to have occult bleeding by faecal immunohistochemical test. Investigations showed a 3 cm×2 cm caecal lesion by colonoscopy that was consistent with abdominal CT scan findings of a 1.6 cm×1.9 cm×2.3 cm enhancing focus in the medial caecal wall. The patient underwent laparoscopic right hemicolectomy after diagnostic laparoscopy and intraoperative colonoscopy revealed an intussuscepted appendix. The final histopathology was an appendiceal intussusception secondary to endometriosis.

Appendiceal Intussusception

The pathology of the appendix remains one of the topical areas of abdominal surgery. Its rare diseases can be difficult to diagnose and treat, and are accompanied by the development of serious complications. One of them is intussusception of the appendix to the cecum. Intussusception can be caused by previously undiagnosed primary lesions of the appendix. At the same time, it can simulate tumor and tumor-like formations of the cecum and lead to diagnostic errors. The literature review provides modern data on the history of the study of the problem, the epidemiology of classification, the causes and mechanisms of the development of appendiceal intussusception, the methods of its diagnosis and treatment.