Can Celiac Be Linked To Appendicitis ?

[georgie]

My cousin has just had an emergency appendix operation. The appendix was twisted around the bowel. He has been 10 days recovering in hospital on a drip. Starting to eat now. But I have been wondering if Celiac could be linked to this? He has had IBS all his life - unable to eat, cramps etc. I asked them if he had Celiac and they just said he had the tests and was OK - but we know that tests can be wrong.

[2kids4me]

Appendicitis is common... I am not celiac and had mine out at age 6, my brother in law - not celiac has his out at age 30, another brother in law had his out at age 28..my daughter who is celiac had hers out last June. Surgeon and GI doc said the incidence of appendicitis is not related to celiac or diabetes or hypothyroidism.

It happens commonly.

sandy

[georgie]

Yes but is it normal to have it twisted around the bowel, the bowel to stop working and to be on a drip for 10 days ? I was thinking of Audrey Hepburn I guess - were her bowel cancer was inoperable cos of adhesions in her bowel. My cousin has had 20 years of bowel pain, IBS, inability to eat etc. Drs were always puzzled until this emergency.

[2kids4me]

It is a less common presentation...my own appendix was flipped up and sitting under a lobe of the liver and ruptured - my brother in-law's was gangrenous and twisted in a loop of bowel.

Once it becomes inflammed and causes pain which also affects bowel function and this can cause the bowel to contract irregulary and pull the appendix into a loop of bowel. The intestines are all coiled in and around inside our abdomen.

I have seen it in animals - they dont get appendicitis - but when they have a raging diarrhea, the intestine can get going so fast it telescopes inside itself - called intussiception. It can happen with many bowel conditions.

When bowel has been compromised as in your cousins case and has stopped working because it was obstructed (once bowel is caught ina twist as you describe)...the standard care is to have no oral food and maintain on IV fluids until they are sure the bowel that was caught in the twist will return to full function. The blood supply is compromised in these situations and if they gave him food too soon, they might have made him worse. Also if the bowel had not recovered fully, he would have no appetite and been nauseous as well. Plus he had surgery and cramping is normal after the abdomen has been operated on, bowel is very sensitive (as we all know!)

Bowel needs time to heal and it slows healing if it has to digest food. Even think of anyone who has had viral diarrhea - once it stops, if they returned to full diet - solids etc right away - they'd get a heck of a gutache and probably get dirarhea again.

It is possible that your cousin had chronic appendicitis for years before it became surgical. My aunt had horrible abdominal pain and fatigue for years, then when she needed her appendix out, they found evidence that it had been inflammed for a long time. Since the appendectomy, her health returned.

I am, however curious - in your cousins case, if they checked his bowel during surgery for anything else. In my daughters case, she had an unusual amount of abdominal fluid so they "ran the bowel" (went from one end to the other visually examing it) and looked at lymph nodes to be sure there wasnt any other unrelated issues.

If your cousin suspects he may have celiac even with neg tests - has he ever tried gluten free to see if he improves? There is also a condition called vasculitis of the intestines, where blood vessels that supply the intestine become inflammed - causing cramping diarrhes , often bloody.

Sandy