Acute appendicitis in young children less than 5 years: review article

Abstract

Despite wide spread availability of sophisticated diagnostic imaging, acute appendicitis in pre-school children remains a diagnostic challenge. Most of these children present late, often with complications e.g. appendicular perforation, abscess formation and peritonitis and as result hospital stay is prolonged and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this article is to review peculiar features of acute appendicitis in preschool children.