Incidental Parasitic Infestations in Surgically Removed Appendices and its Association with Inflammation

Abstract

Background:. To determine the frequency and type of parasitic infestations in surgically removed appendices based on histopathological findings and to assess its association with inflammation. Methods: In this cross-sectional study 471 appendices removed were included and their histopathologic examination reports were observed. In cases with parasitic infestations, information regarding gender, age and presence of inflammation was gathered. Fisher’s exact test at 5% level of significance was applied to compare presence of inflammatory infiltrates in appendices with and without parasites. Results: Of the 471 appendectomies performed, 15 (3.18%) specimens were found to contain parasites, all of which were Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm). In those 15 cases, age of patients ranged from 9 to 45 years with a mean age of 19.07 ± 9.04 years. Out of those 15 patients, 11 (73.3%) were females and 4 (26.7%) were males (male to female ratio was 1:2.75). Only 2 out of 15 cases (13.3%) with parasitic infestation had inflammation, whereas in 456 of the remaining non-parasitic appendices, 324 (71.1%) were positive for inflammation. This difference was statistically significant with a p value < 0.05. Conclusion: Frequency of parasitic infestations in surgically removed appendices is low. Very few appendices with parasitic infestation are associated with inflammation as compared to appendices without parasites.

Keywords

• Parasitic Infestations
• Appendices
• Enterobius vermicularis