Spirochetosis Mimicking Acute Appendicitis: Clinical Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Intestinal spirochetosis is sometimes found by chance in histological specimen of routine endoscopies. There are only a few cases described in the literature that spirochetosis of the appendix was mimicking acute appendicitis. We present a case of pseudoappendicitis with the histological finding of spirochetes and review the current literature. Case Presentation: A 72-year-old woman presented with pain of the lower right abdomen and previous systemic corticoid therapy. In clinical examination, there was a tenderness and pain in the right lower quadrant, and inflammation values were elevated. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed no obvious inflammation of the appendix. A diagnostic laparoscopy was performed and revealed a macroscopically uninflamed appendix which was removed. Histology revealed spirochetosis of the appendix but no typical signs of appendicitis. The patient was treated with antibiotics for 5 days and was discharged without abdominal pain. In a clinical control 6 weeks later, the abdominal pain had disappeared and the patient was in good clinical condition. Discussion: Intestinal spirochetosis is randomly found in histological specimen during routine endoscopies, even in asymptomatic patients. There are only a few cases described with spirochetosis of the appendix causing pain and mimicking appendicitis; hence, this entity is an important differential diagnosis of pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Spirochetosis Mimicking Acute Appendicitis: Clinical Report and Review of the Literature ; volume:8 ; number:3 ; year:2023 ; pages:128-132 ; extent:5 ; Inflammatory intestinal diseases ; 8, Heft 3 (2023), 128-132 (gesamt 5)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Lüthy, Magdalena ; Käser, Samuel A. ; Wagener, Carolin ; Fahrner, René

Further information

• DOI: 10.1159/000531961
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023122023224477029482
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:32 AM CEST