title: [Protective effect of appendectomy on the development of ulcerative colitis. A case-control study].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine by a case-control study the relationship between appendectomy and subsequent ulcerative colitis development in a French population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 150 patients with ulcerative colitis were matched for age (+/- 5 years) and sex, with 150 controls recruited in a preventive medicine center. The following data were collected from medical records and by standardised questionnaire in consultation or by phone: appendectomy and tonsillectomy before the onset of ulcerative colitis, smoking habits and area of residence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rate of previous appendectomy in patients with ulcerative colitis was 8% (12/150) compared with 30.6% (46/150) in the control group (P=0.001). There was no significant association between ulcerative colitis and tonsillectomy (25.3 and 27.3% in the control and the ulcerative colitis groups, respectively). Smoking was more frequent in the control group (36%) than in the ulcerative colitis group (25.3%) but the difference was not significant (P=0.07). In multivariate analysis, the risk of developing ulcerative colitis was significantly lower after previous appendectomy (odds ratio=0.26; 95% confidence interval: 0.13-0.55; P=7 x 10(-4)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study confirms the inverse association between appendectomy and subsequent ulcerative colitis, in a French population, after adjusting on smoking.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Hépato-Gastroentérologie, CHU Robert-Debré, Reims.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uzan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jolly
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Diebold
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Geoffroy
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Renard
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vandromme
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramaholimihaso
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bouché
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zeitoun
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cadiot
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiéfin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001062:Appendectomy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D014068:Tonsillectomy