Acute appendicitis does not increase the risk of right colon cancer in people over 45 years of age

Abstract

Aim: The main objective was to determine whether in our population there was a difference in the rate of right colon cancer diagnosis for patients over 45 years of age in the 36 months following acute appendicitis compared to a control group.

Patients and Methods: Retrospective cohort study with an exposed group of 300 patients with histological diagnosis of acute appendicitis and a control group of 300 patients operated on for benign pathology between January 2014 and August 2017. Electronic medical records and the Granada Cancer Registry database were cross-referenced.

Results: 2/300 patients (0.7%) presented while 4/300 (1.3%) presented in the control group. Given these findings, there is no increased risk of developing colon carcinoma in patients with appendicitis (p > 0.05).

Discussion: Acute appendicitis may be the first manifestation of right colon carcinoma, however, in our review we found no such association in our population.