Complicated acute appendicitis presenting as an abscess in the abdominal wall in an elderly patient: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdomen; however, the classic clinical signs are not often present, and it has unusual presentations. Thus, its diagnosis can be challenging.

PRESENTATION OF CASE: We describe the case of an elderly man who presented with right abdominal wall abscess with spontaneous drainage in the emergency department. Since we suspected a subjacent abdominal pathology, we performed surgery, and intraoperatively, we observed that the Appendix tip had invaded the abdominal wall.

DISCUSSION: This patient had a challenging diagnostic process and surgical visualization of the appendicular tip invading the abdominal wall was an important characteristic in proving the cause of the abdominal wall abscess.

CONCLUSION: The onset of an abdominal wall abscess without a known cause needs to be thoroughly investigated, with consideration of a subjacent abdominal cause and appendicitis necessitatis.