Abstract

Introduction: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the colon and rectum of unknown etiology. Elective appendectomy has been proposed as a possible treatment for patients with refractory ulcerative colitis. Objective: To report the clinical case of a patient with refractory UC who showed improvement in symptomatology and quality of life after undergoing elective appendectomy. Results: We present the case of a 46-year-old patient with a 2-year history of hypothyroidism and ulce-rative colitis, with rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, and significant diarrhea despite biological therapy. Elective laparoscopic appendectomy was performed, resulting in symptomatic improvement of the patient as measured by the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire. The patient’s preoperative score was 60 points, and the postoperative score was 176. Discussion: It seems evident that ulcerative colitis and the cecal appendix are intimately related. Future challenges should aim to identify clinical characteristics that determine which patients benefit from this intervention. © 2024, Sociedad de Cirujanos de Chile. All rights reserved.