A specific case of appendicitis in the elderly – an experience for the young clinician

Appendicitis is an inflammatory disease caused by obstruction of the appendiceal lumen. It represents one of the most common abdominal pathologies in clinical practice. Appendicitis has a well-defined range of signs and symptoms but is harder to diagnose in elderly patients because of less specific symptomatology, a wide differential diagnosis, and communication problems. The perforation rate in the elderly is 50–70%, rising with age (particularly above age 80), compared with a perforation rate of 20–30% in the general population, suggesting that symptoms may appear mild while the case may actually be severe. With rising life expectancy and thus an increase in elderly patients presenting with appendicitis symptoms, and to further the experience of the young clinician, we report the case of an 88-year old woman who was admitted to the hospital’s emergency ward, with acute hypogastric pain that radiated to the back and to the entire abdomen. Appendicitis was diagnosed, followed by surgical procedure and the patient recovered well.