Right lower quadrant pain in young patients with leukemia. A surgical perspective.

A retrospective review of cecal and appendiceal complications occurring in young patients with acute leukemia since 1969 was performed. The objective of this study was to determine the relative incidence of appendicitis and typhlitis among patients with acute leukemia who had operation or autopsy in this institution as well as to determine the risks of operative intervention. Fifteen patients with these complications were identified among the 400 patients with acute leukemia seen during this time period. Signs and symptoms of an acute abdomen were present despite immunosuppression. The incidence of sepsis at the time of presentation was 53%. Preoperative risk factors identified most frequently were coagulopathy and organ failure resulting from sepsis. Postoperative morbidity (25%) and mortality rates (8%) were related to the development of infectious complications. Appendicitis occurred in eight of the 15 patients studied, whereas typhlitis or its complications was found in seven patients. No preoperative factors could be found to differentiate typhlitis from appendicitis on clinical examination. It is suggested that operation can be safely performed in neutropenic patients who have acute right lower quadrant pain and signs of peritoneal irritation and may be the only effective way of differentiating appendicitis from typhlitis.