Open AccessGiant appendicolith: Rare finding in a common ailment
Author(s) -
Sanjeev Singhal,
Anu Singhal,
Harsh Mahajan,
Bindu Prakash,
Sunil V Kapur,
Pankaj Arora,
Bishwanath Tiwari,
Punit Sethi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of minimal access surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0972-9941
pISSN - 1998-3921
DOI - 10.4103/0972-9941.178514
Subject(s) - medicine , acute appendicitis , asymptomatic , perforation , appendicitis , radiology , computed tomography , diverticulum (mollusc) , appendix , abscess , surgery , biology , metallurgy , paleontology , materials science , punching
Acute appendicitis is one of the commonest surgical emergencies worldwide. There is considerable variation in prevalence of appendicoliths with appendicitis. Most of the patients with appendicoliths are asymptomatic and they are not pathognomic for acute appendicitis. However, appendicoliths show increased association with perforation and abscess formation. Appendicolith are quite common, being present in 3% of general population and in nearly 10% cases of appendicitis. However, giant appendicoliths measuring over 2 centimeters (cms) are extremely rare. Computed Tomography (CT) has increased their pre-operative diagnosis considerably. Use of spectral analysis can give us the details of composition of the stone pre-operatively. We present a young male diagnosed pre-operatively on Non-Contrast Computed Tomography (NCCT) to have a giant calcium struvite appendicolith. On laparoscopy he had a 3 cm stone and an incidental Meckel's diverticulum and underwent appendectomy. The case is presented for the unique size of the appendicolith alongwith review of literature.