The Place of Atopy in the Aetiology of Acute Appendicitis in Children.

Abstract

Appendicitis, the most common cause of abdominal pain requiring surgery in children, refers to inflammation of the vermiform appendix. The aetiology of appendicitis is multifactorial, although it is affected by several precursor factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether allergic diseases cause a predisposition to appendicitis. One hundred and sixteen patients who underwent surgery for acute appendicitis and who had a diagnosis of acute appendicitis confirmed pathologically, and a control group of 124 individuals of similar ages and genders, were enrolled. The level of inflammation of appendiceal material in cases diagnosed with acute appendicitis was classified pathologically. The skin prick test (SPT) was used to determine allergic sensitization. A significant difference was determined between the patient and control groups in terms of skin prick positivity (p < 0.05). While there are several known factors implicated in the causation of acute appendicitis, the cause cannot be identified in some cases. We think that atopy may also be a risk factor in the development of acute appendicitis.