Cancer risk following appendectomy for acute appendicitis (Denmark)

Objective: Epidemiologic studies have not been able definitely to exclude that appendectomy carries a cancer risk. This study was conducted to clarify whether appendectomy is associated with a subsequent increase in cancer risk, since appendectomy is frequently an elective procedure. Methods: The present study included more than 82,000 persons who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis during 1977-89 according to the nation-wide Danish Hospital Discharge Register. During a follow-up interval of up to 17 years, cancer incidence was assessed by linkage to the Danish Cancer Registry and compared with the incidence in the general population of Denmark. Results: The total number of malignancies among appendectomized persons was 1.05 times higher than expected with 95 percent confidence intervals of 0.99-1.11. There was no clear significant excess of any specific cancer type. Conclusion: During a postsurgery period of nearly two decades, results of our study did not support the hypothesis that either appendectomy or acute appendicitis are likely to be associated with malignant neoplasms.