Unexpected Complication Due to Shigella flexneri in a Child: Acute Appendicitis

Acute bacillary dysentery (shigellosis) occurs due to infections with shigella sp. The spectrum of acute shigellosis ranges from mild watery diarrhea to severe dysentery. Surgical complications of shigellosis described in children have included appendicitis with or without perforation, colonic perforation, intestinal obstruction, and intraabdominal abscess.Acute appendicitis and infective diarrheal illness can be difficult to differentiate, particularly in children. Thus,patients must be followed up closely until the differentiation between bacterial gastroenteritis and acute appendicitis can be made. We report herein a 10-year-old boy who had acute appendicitis due to Shigella flexneri.