Appendiceal phlegmon in adults: Do we know how to manage it yet?

A Best Evidence Topic in general surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was 'Appendiceal phlegmon in adults: Do we know how to manage it yet?'. Altogether 217 papers were found on Ovid Embase and Medline, 334 on PubMed and 13 on the Cochrane database using the reported search. From the screened articles, 5 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. We conclude that the best management method is conservative only treatment without interval appendicectomy. These patients must be followed up, including colonoscopy and/or CT imaging as indicated, to investigate for conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or malignancy masquerading as appendicitis.