[Chronic appendicitis. A case report].
BACKGROUND
The term chronic appendicitis has been used to describe any type of chronic pain that originates in the appendix, with or without inflammation. This broad category can be divided more specifically into: chronic or recurrent appendicitis and appendiceal colic pain.


METHODS
a 41-year-old female, suffering intestinal chronic constipation, abdominal pain, nausea, hiporexia and febricula, treated with antibiotics, vermifuges, analgesics and antispasmodics, showing a slight and partial improvement. She was suffering chronic pain in lower abdomen, mostly on the right side along a year. With these symptoms, she underwent an exploratory laparotomy, that showed chronic appendicitis. Appendix had been removed. The histopathological report corresponded to chronic appendicitis.


CONCLUSIONS
the histopathological characteristics and the clinical manifestations of the chronic appendicitis are different from those of acute appendicitis. Criteria for chronic appendicitis include: symptoms lasting longer than 4 weeks, confirmation of chronic swelling through histopathological examination, improvement of symptoms after appendectomy. The ultrasonic images, the barium enema and the computerized helicoidal tomography could be suggestive for its diagnosis.
Montiel-Jarquín
Alvaro José
AJ
Hospital de Especialidades Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Puebla, Puebla México. dralmoja@hotmail.com
Gómez-Conde
Eduardo
E
Reyes-Páramo
Pedro
P
Romero-Briones
Carlos
C
Mendoza-García
Aurelio Valentín
AV
García-Ramírez
Ulises Noel
UN
D000328:Adult; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans