Foreign body type reaction causing differential diagnostic difficulty after appendectomy

Generally, complications with appendectomy occur during the early postoperative stage and are quite rare years after the operation. In case of late manifestation of complications, the clinical signs are generally unspecific. We report a case of an 11-year-old girl - who underwent an appendectomy 8 years ago - with abdominal pain during the last 2 weeks. The first ultrasound examinations were carried out in Austria with normal results. In our department, the ultrasonography and the MR examinations showed an inhomogeneous abdominal mass which was connected to the abdominal wall and with the suspicion of inflammation. Because of the diversified results of radiology imaging and laboratory test, inflammatory bowel disease and tumor were considered in the differential diagnosis. During the operation, a tumor-like lesion related to the ascending colon was found. The histopathological examination revealed a foreign body type suture granuloma with a central abscess. Malignancy was not found. The clinical investigation proved celiac disease, too. The Schloffer tumor is a rare complication after abdominal surgery. This is a foreign body type inflammatory granuloma mainly around a surgical thread. The knowledge of the entity is important in differential diagnostic aspect. The presence of celiac disease in combination with the negative result of the first ultrasound examination made the exact diagnosis more difficult. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(3): 112-115.