Acute Appendicitis Is Associated with Peptic Ulcers: A Population-based Study

Despite some studies having indicated a possible association between appendicitis and duodenal ulcers, this association was mainly based on regional samples or limited clinician experiences, and as such, did not permit unequivocal conclusions. In this case-control study, we examined the association of acute appendicitis with peptic ulcers using a population-based database. We included 3574 patients with acute appendicitis as cases and 3574 sex- and age-matched controls. A Chi-squared test showed that there was a significant difference in the prevalences of prior peptic ulcers between cases and controls (21.7% vs. 16.8%, p < 0.001). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of prior peptic ulcers for cases was 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24~1.54, p < 0.001) compared to controls. The results further revealed that younger groups demonstrated higher ORs for prior peptic ulcers among cases than controls. In particular, the adjusted OR for cases < 30 years old was as high as 1.65 (95% CI = 1.25~2.19; p < 0.001) compared to controls. However, we failed to observe an association of acute appendicitis with peptic ulcers in the ≥ 60-year age group (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 0.93~1.52). We concluded that there is an association between acute appendicitis and a previous diagnosis of peptic ulcers.