Intest Res.
2009 Jun;7(1):47-51.
Clinical Characteristics of Primary Epiploic Appendagitis
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Medical Research Institute, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jassa@ewha.ac.kr
Abstract
- BACKGROUND/AIMS
Primary epiploic appendagitis (PEA) is a rare cause of focal abdominal pain in otherwise healthy patients. Patients with acute abdominal pain are often misdiagnosed clinically as acute appendicitis or diverticulitis. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical presentation and characteristic computed tomography (CT) findings of PEA.
METHODS
We reviewed the clinical records and CT images of 23 consecutive patients in Korea who presented with acute abdominal pain between January 2005 and February 2009 and had radiologic signs of PEA.
RESULTS
Twenty-three patients (7 females and 16 males; average age, 42+/-14 years) were diagnosed with symptomatic PEA. Abdominal pain localized to the left (8 patients [44.5%]) and right (10 patients [55.5%]) lower quadrants as the leading symptom. CT findings specific for PEA were present in all patients except one. The symptoms resolved within 1 week (mean, 3.5 days) with or without antibiotic treatment.
CONCLUSIONS
In patients with localized, sharp, acute abdominal pain not associated with other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, fever or atypical laboratory values, the diagnosis of PEA should be considered and the diagnosis confirmed by CT scan.
