Traumatic appendicitis misdiagnosed as a case of haemoperitoneum

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common emergencies handled by a surgeon. Various aetiologies of acute appendicitis have been proposed but none have been proved. Trauma too has been proposed as a cause of acute appendicitis. Here we present a case of blunt trauma abdomen which was explored to r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ case reports 2014-04, Vol.2014, p.bcr2013202082
Main Authors: Ahmed, Syed Tausif, Ranjan, Rajeev, Saha, Subhendu Bikas, Singh, Balbodh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdomen
Abdomen, Acute - etiology
Abdominal Injuries - complications
Appendicitis
Appendicitis - diagnosis
Appendicitis - etiology
Appendicitis - surgery
Appendix
Asia
Child
Diagnostic Errors
Hemoperitoneum - diagnosis
Hospitals
Humans
Indian Sub-Continent
Laparoscopy
Learning from Errors
Male
Medical imaging
Patients
Postoperative period
Wounds, Nonpenetrating - complications
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Summary:Acute appendicitis is one of the most common emergencies handled by a surgeon. Various aetiologies of acute appendicitis have been proposed but none have been proved. Trauma too has been proposed as a cause of acute appendicitis. Here we present a case of blunt trauma abdomen which was explored to rule out a perforation of hollow viscous organ and haemoperitoneum, but at the time of exploration a perforated appendicitis was found. The chronological order of events points towards blunt trauma as the probable cause of this appendicitis. This case also highlights the fact that even if trauma was not the cause of acute appendicitis, acute appendicitis should still be kept in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with pain in the right lower abdomen and a history of trauma.
ISSN:1757-790X
1757-790X
DOI:10.1136/bcr-2013-202082