History of appendectomy in ulcerative colitis

 Q: History of early appendectomy is protective in ulcerative colitis (UC)?

A) True

B) False

Answer: A

If a patient has a history of appendectomy at a younger age and/or before the diagnosis, it is protective for the exacerbation both in terms of need for colectomy and/or hospitalizations. 

A review of Swedish data span over 47 years with 63,711 patients decreases the Hazard Ratio (HR) for colectomy particularly if appendectomy is carried out before the age of 20. 

Interestingly, this risk increases with an HR of 1.56 if appendicitis is diagnosed after the diagnosis of UC.

#gastroenterology

#surgical-critical-care

Reference:

Myrelid P, Landerholm K, Nordenvall C, et al. Appendectomy and the Risk of Colectomy in Ulcerative Colitis: A National Cohort Study. Am J Gastroenterol 2017; 112:1311.