Clinicopathological review of surgically removed appendix in Central Nigeria

BackgroundAcute appendicitis is a disease of the young presenting in children and early adolescents although no age group is exempt. It is the most common cause of acute surgical abdomen worldwide. This clinicopathological study aims to determine the various lesions of the surgically removed appendix in our centre and if any, changing trend in this lesion in our environment.MethodA retrospective study was undertaken to review the histopathology reports of all appendicectomy specimens submitted to the Department of Pathology of the Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja; Nigeria from November 2009 to October 2012 Patient’s biodata, clinical signs and symptoms were extracted from the request form.ResultA total of 293 appendices were received during the 3-year study period constituting about 10% of total specimens. The male to female ratio was 1:1.3 with a mean age of 26.33 ± 11.39 years. Acute appendicitis was found in 81.2% of our cases while other lesions constitute 14.7% and negative appendectomy occurred in 4.1% of the cases. No mortality was recorded.ConclusionThe findings in this study compared favourably with those of our environment and in the developed world although acute appendicitis in this study showed slight female preponderance.