Rare cecum pathologies as a cause of acute abdomen in children

We aimed to present cecum pathologies which are the cause of acute abdomen.

Between January 2015 and June 2019, patients that were operated with the diagnosis of acute abdomen and patients with the primary cecum pathologies were evaluated retrospectively.

There were eight patients, five males and three females. The mean age was 7.2±2.9 years. Complaints were abdominal pain and vomiting in all patients. Physical examination was consistent with acute abdomen. In the imaging studies, the preliminary diagnosis was considered as two patients had acute appendicitis, two had invagination (one due to Meckel diverticulum and one with mesenteric cyst), two had ileus, one had perforated appendicitis, and one had cecum diverticulum. In surgery, five patients had cecum mass, one had cecum diverticulitis, one had cecum volvulus, and one had inflamed necrotic cecum. All patients underwent cecum resection and ileocolonic anastomosis. Histopathologic examination was resulted as Burkitt's lymphoma in three patients, cecum diverticulum in two, duplication of cecum in one, tuberculosis of cecum in one, and gangrenous necrosis due to volvulus in one patient. The mean follow-up period was 25 months (2 months-4 years). Follow-up was uneventful.

Primary cecum pathologies are very rare. This leads to lack of standardization in treatment planning. Considering the patients with malignancy in the series, ileocolonic anastomosis with cecum resection is an adequate and appropriate treatment option in children with primary cecum pathology.