Morphological features of the vermiform appendix in children

Abstract

The aim is to study the literature data concerning the anatomical features of the vermiform appendix in children of different ages. To analyze the results of ultrasound examination concerning the size of the base of the appendix in children of different age groups. Materials and methods. The results of ultrasound examination of 56 children aged from 1 to 16 years who applied to the State Institution “Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Pediatric Surgery”, Belarus, Minsk, with complaints of abdominal pain were studied. A statistical method was used to study the size of the base of the vermiform process. Results and discussion. 56 patients were divided into 4 age groups. The average size of the base of the vermiform process was: in children 1-3 years - 4.3 mm, 4-9 years - 5.8 mm, 10-13 years - 6.6 mm, 14-18 years - 7.1 mm. In 19 patients, the topography of the appendix was not described because the appendix was not visualized. According to the results of ultrasound, 8 phlegmonous appendicitis and 1 gangrenous appendicitis were diagnosed, no other surgical pathologies were detected. Conclusion. As a result of the morphometric study, the diameter of the base of the appendix was determined in each group of patients. In all 8 patients with phlegmonous appendicitis and one with gangrenous appendicitis, the diameter of the base of the appendix significantly exceeded the average norm. This is probably due to the development of an inflammatory process in the process, accompanied by a thickening of its wall, due to the involvement of the peritoneal cover of the process in the inflammatory process.