Colon cancer hidden by appendicitis symptoms

Nutrition Health Review, Fall, 1990

Colon Cancer Hidden By Appendicitis Symptoms

BRISTOL, ENGLAND: The doctor investigating appendicitis symptoms can be misled when the condition occurs in patients over the age of forty. Colon cancer could be the underlying problem.

Dr. J. Hill of Southmead Hospital in Bristol recently examined a 51-year-old man who complained of symptoms associated with appendicitis despite the fact that he had been operated upon for that condition. Further ivestigation proved that the previous surgery was a mistake, the result of misdiagnosis.

The cause of the patient's pain that was overlooked proved to be cancer of the large bowel (adenocarcinoma) that was invading the right kidney.

The attending physician decided to investigate cases of 100 other patients who were over the age of forty, who had been diagnosed as suffering from acute appendicitis, and were operated upon for that condition. To his dismay, he discovered enough cases of colon cancer to established a criterion for diagnosing appenicitis that included colonic carcinoma.