Macroscopic findings at appendicectomy are unreliable: implications for laparoscopy and malignant conditions of the appendix.

Background: At laparoscopic appendicectomy, some surgeons leave a macroscopically normal appendix in situ. To assess if this is safe practice, the authors wanted to identify the correlation between macroscopic findings at appendicectomy and pathologists' assessment with regard to the inflamed and the neoplastic.

Method: Operative cases and histological findings over a 3-year period were identified.