Acute appendicitis in supraumbilical hernia

Clinical presentation of acute appendicitis, the most common cause of acute abdomen, is influenced by its location. The usual clinical signs of appendicitis may be completely changed or even absent in cases of atypical appendicular positions. Incisional hernia is the most common late complication of intra-abdominal operations. Organs most likely to be localized in the hernia sac are the omentum and small and large intestines. Occasionally other organs may also herniate, for example, the appendix. Incarcerations of these organs can lead to infarsation or even to gangrene. We present the case of a 59 years old patient who underwent surgical revision for an incarcerated hernia in the scar from his previous laparoscopic operation for bilateral inguinal hernia. We expected to find an incarcerated small intestinal loop in the hernia, but surprisingly we found an acutely inflamed appendix. Considering the inflammation, special care is needed to ensure thorough treatment of the inflammatory process at the site of the incarcerated hernia. This case report presents a rare form of acute appendicitis with atypical localization in the scar from a laparoscopic port; it is a rare combination of two different causes of acute abdomen.