Solitary cecal diverticulitis, a rare cause of right lower quadrant pain: Four cases

Abstract

Solitary cecal diverticulitis is a rare clinical condition. Like diverticulitis in other segments of the colon, it requires immediatesurgical intervention if it is causing complications. Solitary cecal diverticulitis may be misdiagnosed as acute appendicitis,since it causes right lower quadrant pain, or as a cecal tumor or inflammatory bowel disease, due to an intraoperative appearanceresembling an inflammatory mass. Four patients with solitary cecum diverticulitis presenting with acute right lowerquadrant pain are discussed in this report. Three patients underwent surgery with a preliminary diagnosis of acute appendicitisor cecal tumor, and 1 patient was diagnosed with cecal diverticulitis and treated medically. The treatment approach maychange depending on a preoperative or intraoperative diagnosis of cecal diverticulitis. Therefore, in areas where this diseaseis uncommon, cecum diverticulitis should not be forgotten in the differential diagnosis of acute right lower quadrant pain orinflammatory bowel mass.