Acute appendicitis following abdominal trauma: A review

The aim of this article is to highlight the entity of traumatic acute appendicitis, review etiologies and management strategies. This will be done by a literature review, based on data accrued from Pubmed, using the keywords "Acute appendicitis; abdominal trauma". Acute appendicitis following traumatic injury to the abdomen is an exceedingly rare entity accounting for less than 1% of all cases of acute appendicitis in the US annually. One of the earliest reports of this phenomenon was published by Fowler in 1938. The etiology of the appendicitis varies with blunt and penetrating trauma, with the latter being even rarer than the former. There are multiple theories put forth by various authors, the most popular one being that of blunt trauma causing contusions and swelling of the appendix which eventually lead to luminal occlusion and inflammation. An alternative explanation is that trauma elicits an inflammatory response owing to the inherent immune capabilities of the organ. Regardless of etiology, the potential for serious complications from delayed diagnosis of acute appendicitis exist and early, accurate diagnosis remains important. This is especially true for pediatric populations where the morbidity and potential mortality of perforated appendicitis exceed that of adult patients.