Spontaneous, isolated caecal necrosis: report of a case, review of the literature, and updated classification.

Isolated necrosis of the caecum is a rare cause of abdominal pain. In the absence of occlusive vascular disease it has a number of well documented associations, the commonest of which is patients' receiving haemodialysis for endstage renal failure. It has also been associated with shock states, cardiac failure, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and drugs such as cocaine, thiopentone and cytotoxic agents. However, there are few reported cases in the literature without the aforementioned associations and the majority of cases, regardless of aetiology, were treated with either hemicolectomy or wedge resection and ileocolic anastamosis. This report describes a case of isolated caecal necrosis, mimicking acute appendicitis, successfully treated by local excision of the necrotic segment. It also provides a systematic review of the literature and proposes an updated classification of associations in isolated caecal necrosis.