The Role of Appendicectomy in Ulcerative Colitis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Editorial: routine use of intestinal ultrasound in ulcerative colitis—are we missing the appendix?

“…Similar rates of appendiceal inflammation have been reported in specimens from patients with active and quiescent UC and with no influence of baseline disease extent 5 . Appendectomy has been proposed as an alternative therapeutic surgical approach before considering colectomy in patients with refractory UC, with improvement in quality of life and avoidance of colectomy in over 70% at 3‐year follow‐up 6–8 . Further data from ongoing multi‐centre clinical trials are needed to confirm and further establish appendectomy as part of the standard of care in medically refractory populations 9 …”

“…5 Appendectomy has been proposed as an alternative therapeutic surgical approach before considering colectomy in patients with refractory UC, with improvement in quality of life and avoidance of colectomy in over 70% at 3-year follow-up. [6][7][8] Further data from ongoing multi-centre clinical trials are needed to confirm and further establish appendectomy as part of the standard of care in medically refractory populations. 9 Reijntjes and collaborators explored IUS assessment of the appendix in ambulatory patients with UC in a single-centre prospective cohort study, including a range of UC disease activity.…”

Implications of the changing epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in a changing world

“…These data bring into question the role of appendicitis, including shared risk factors for appendicitis, rather than appendectomy, in modulating IBD risk. Further, appendicitis and appendectomy are also reported to modulate UC course 59 …”