1234 Correspondence

References

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4. Lachkar Y, et al. Drug-induced acute angle closure glaucoma. Curr Opin Ophthalmol 2007;18:129-33.
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6. Lozewicz S. Bladder outflow obstruction induced by ipratropium bromide. Postgrad Med J 1989;65:260-1.

Do you think about traumatic appendicitis in your trauma bay?

To the Editor,

We read with great interest the article by Charlotte Derr and D. Eliot Goldner “Posttraumatic appendicitis: further extending the extended Focused assessment with sonography in trauma examination,” which states that ultrasonography may have an unrealized potential as a diagnostic tool for traumatic appendicitis in the trauma bay [1].

“Too little emphasis and serious consideration has been devoted toward this condition, and we hope to underscore its existence and character.” This statement was published by Michael W. Shutkin and S. H. Wetzler in 1936 in an article in which they discussed about 4 cases of traumatic appendicitis [2]. However, the term traumatic appendicitis goes back to many years ago when Osler believed that “persons whose work necessitates the lifting of heavy weights seem more prone to the disease” [3].

Although before challenging with such a case, you may ask yourself whether this entity is really a fact or a fiction, but if you review the literature, you will find that several

cases of appendicitis after blunt abdominal trauma have been reported [1,4-6]. In our practice, we had 3 cases of traumatic appendicitis in our trauma center. All of them had a long appendix that seemed to be compressed against the iliac bone.

Indeed, we want to reemphasize that trauma surgeons and emergency medicine physicians should think about the possibility of traumatic appendicitis in their trauma bays.

Hamed Ghoddusi Johari MD Trauma Research Center General Surgery Department

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Shiraz, Iran E-mail address: [email protected]

Shima Eskandari MD

Trauma Research Center Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Shiraz, Iran

doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2011.07.004

References

1. Derr C, Goldner DE. Posttraumatic appendicitis: further extending the extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma examination. Am J Emerg Med 2009;27(5):632.e5-7.
2. Shutkin MW, Wetzler SH. Traumatic appendicitis. Am J Surg 1936; 31(2):514-20.
3. Osler WM. Practice of medicine3rd ed. ; 1899. p. 534.
4. Ciftci AO, Tanyel FC, Buyukpamokcu N, et al. Appendicitis after blunt abdominal trauma: cause or coincidence? Eur J Pediatr Surg 1996;6(6): 350-3.
5. Etensel B, Yazici M, Gursoy H, et al. The effect of blunt abdominal trauma on appendix vermiformis. Emerg Med J 2005;22:874-7.
6. Ramsook C. Traumatic appendicitis: fact or fiction? Pediatr Emerg Care

2001;17(4):264-6.