Pneumatosis Intestinalis Secondary to Appendicitis: What Do We Know?

PURPOSE: Herein, we present a unique case in which pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) presented in a middle-aged patient in association with appendicitis and include the first review of all known cases of concomitant PI with acute appendicitis.

METHODS

Inclusion criteria included ages greater than 28 days and all known cases of appendicitis with findings of PI. Databases searched included PubMed, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, and Medline. Title, abstract, and body content were searched for keywords including "appendicitis," "appendix," "pneumatosis intestinalis," "gas," "bowel," "lumen," and "intramural." This resulted in 11 reports, not including our case.

RESULTS

Our findings suggest that middle-aged men with a history of obesity, hypertension, and type II diabetes mellitus are the most vulnerable to PI-associated appendicitis and most of these presentations can be diagnosed via CT.

CONCLUSION

We present the 12th case and first literature review of all known cases of PI secondary to acute appendicitis. Contrasting the cases of this study with typical appendicitis, patients with PI with appendicitis are older, present later, most require critical abdominal surgery, and will have an extended hospital stay.