Introduction:

Appendiceal plastron is an inflammatory tumor made up of inflamed appendix, adjacent viscera and greater omentum. It may or may not contain pus (abscess/phlegmon).

Objective:

To specify whether emergency or interval appendectomy is indicated in patients with appendicular abscess and/or plastron who had undergone initial nonsurgical treatment.

Methods:

A review was carried out in the bibliographic databases Web of Science, PubMed, Medline and Lilacs, using the search engine Google Scholar. Twenty-eight articles were selected, in English and Spanish; twenty (71.2%) corresponded to the quinquennium 2016-20, while 96.4% were written by foreign authors.

Development:

The current standard is the initial nonsurgical treatment of the plastron and percutaneous drainage of the abscess. Interval appendectomy has minimal benefits and can lead to increased costs, hospital stay, intravenous antibiotic therapy and morbidity. Patients at risk for inflammatory bowel disease or colon cancer should be carefully followed up, regardless of which option is chosen (interval operation or observation).

Conclusions:

Emergency appendectomy is not recommended because the inflammatory component makes it technically difficult; it may require colectomy and increase morbidity, although currently, emergency laparoscopic appendectomy may be more profitable and safer. The subsequent decision for interval appendectomy remains debatable. The recommended interval varies from six to eight weeks, three and six months after clinical-humoral normalization.

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