Interval appendectomy. A retrospective study.

79 patients were admitted with a periappendicular abscess at the Surgical Organic Department, Randers Centralsygehus in a 5-year-period from April 1, 1970 to April 1, 1975. Appendectomy à froid was not made on 9 patients. A questionnaire in 7 patients showed no recurrence after an observation period of an average 2.4 years. Appendectomy à froid was made on 70 patients with a complication rate of 13%. The operation could be regraded as quite unnecessary in 14%. Therefore appendectomy à froid cannot be recommended as a routine operation, but all patients ought to be controlled until the palpable mass has disappeared, and only in cases of doubt and in symptomatic cases the patients ought to be operated. All patients over a certain age, 40 years for instance, ought to have performed a colon X-ray with double contrast or coloscopy to exclude a coecal cancer.