Periappendicitis: Clinical reality or pathologic curiosity?

The data from a retrospective study of 224 patients with preoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis are presented. Periappendicitis was subsequently diagnosed in 5.4 per cent of these patients. More than half of these patients with periappendicitis had other intraabdominal disease demonstrable at operation. The remaining patientw with periappendicitis were followed for two years, and long-term complications were not observed. It is concluded that periappendicitis does not represent an unrecognized nonappendiceal process that requires special management.