Is incidental Meckel's diverticulum resected safely?

Aim: Meckel's diverticulum (MD) is the most common congenital anomaly of the small intestine. The majority of MD cases are discovered incidentally. On the other hand, there is disagreement about the management of incidentally discovered asymptomatic MD. The aim of the study was to compare the clinicopathologic characteristics of incidentally found and symptomatic cases of MD, and to compare morbidity and mortality in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Patients And Methods: Records of patients whose MD was resected at our institution between 1989 and 2004 were reviewed and 76 patients were found. The patients were divided into two groups. The incidental group included patients in whom the MDs were found incidentally during the course of laparotomy performed for reasons not related to the diverticular complications. The symptomatic group included patients who presented with complications related to the MDs. We compared the clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients between the two groups

Results: The incidental group included 40 patients (34 males) and the symptomatic group included 36 patients (30 males). There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to age, gender, APACHE scores, postoperative complications, and hospital stay. There were two deaths in the symptomatic group. There was a significant correlation between operative mortality and APACHE II scores.

Conclusions: Resection of incidentally found MD is not associated with increased operative morbidity or mortality.