Intestinal helminths in some cases of acute appendicitis operated in Bamenda, Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most frequent infectious surgical abdominal emergency and previous studies have noted the presence of parasites in the appendicular lumen.

Objective: This study was done to determine the involvement of intestinal worms in the etiology of acute appendicitis.

Materials and Methods: This was a prospective and descriptive study concerning cases of confirmed and operated acute appendicitis between 15^th April, 2013 and 14^th April, 2015 at the People’s Clinic, Ngomgham, Bamenda, Cameroon. The appendicular content was macroscopically examined for parasites and formol-ether concentration technique was carried out for ova detection.

Results: A total of 112 patients were operated for acute abdominal pain within the study period. There were 74 (60.8%) cases confirmed with acute appendicitis of which 45 (60.1%) were males and 29 (39.2%) were. The most affected age group was the 21 to 40 years (50%). The removed appendices appeared congestive in 30 (40.5%) cases, suppurated in 27 (40.5%) cases and gangrenous in 17 (23.0%) cases.There was no relationship between the appearance of the removed appendix and the gender of participants (P>0.05).Three different helminth ova were identified in the 74 samples. In decreasing prevalence, the parasite trend was 8 (10.8%) Ascaris lumbricoides, 5 (6.8%) Enterobius vermicularis, 3 (6.0%), Ankylostoma duodenale, Adult Ascaris lumbricoides and Enterobius vermicularis were seen in 1 and 3 cases respectively.

Conclusion: A small percentage of parasitic worm eggs were found in the appendicular content, though a good portion of patients took medications against parasites before surgery. Intestinal worms could not be incriminated in the causation of the appendicitis; nevertheless, one adult ascaris was found as an evident cause of appendicular lumen obstruction.

Keywords: Intestinal Helminthes, Acute appendicitis, Bamenda