Appendectomy and Risk of Advanced Colorectal Neoplasia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Nationwide Population-based Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the association between appendectomy and advanced colorectal neoplasia (aCRN) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: Inflammatory bowel disease patients diagnosed in Denmark in the period 1977 to 2017 were identified from the Danish National Patient Registry. Inflammatory bowel disease patients who underwent appendectomy were matched with up to 10 IBD patients without appendectomy and followed until aCRN, death, or emigration. Absolute risks of aCRN were calculated, treating death and bowel resections as competing risks. Stratified Cox regression was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of aCRN, comparing IBD patients with appendectomy to IBD patients without appendectomy.

Results: We identified 3789 IBD patients with appendectomy and 37 676 IBD patients without appendectomy. A total of 573 patients (1.4%) developed aCRN, with an absolute risk of aCRN at 20 years of 4.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.9%-7.7%) for ulcerative colitis (UC) patients with appendectomy after UC diagnosis compared with 2.8% (95% CI, 2.3%-3.3%) for UC patients without appendectomy. Appendectomy after UC was associated with an increased rate of aCRN 5 to 10 years (aHR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1-5.5) and 10 to 20 years after appendectomy (aHR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.0-5.5). Appendectomy prior to UC diagnosis was not associated with an increased rate of aCRN, and Crohn's disease was not associated with the rate of aCRN, regardless of timing or histological diagnosis of the appendix specimen.

Conclusions: Although appendectomy may have a positive effect on the clinical course of UC, our study suggests that this may come at the expense of a higher risk of aCRN.

Keywords: advanced colorectal neoplasia; appendectomy; appendicitis; cohort study; colorectal cancer; dysplasia; inflammatory bowel disease; prognosis.