Solitary cecal diverticulitis in a pediatric case: A challenging diagnosis

Pediatric diverticulosis is a rare pathology. In Western countries, most cases of diverticulitis occur in the left colon. In contrast, the rate of right-sided diverticulitis is much more common in Asia. Complicated diverticulitis is extremely rare in children and adolescents. The diagnosis of diverticulitis in pediatrics can be made during the evaluation of abdominal pain or during surgical treatment of the acute abdomen. A six-year-old female patient was admitted with intraoperatively diagnosed cecal diverticulitis. Her medical history was unremarkable. She presented with abdominal pain located in the right iliac fossa of 48 h of evolution, without other symptoms. She underwent surgery for suspected acute appendicitis, finding a normal subcecal appendix and an additional retrocecal plastron-like structure which was initially classified as an appendicular duplication. Plastron release, appendectomy, and accessory structure excision were performed. The histopathological result was reported as cecal diverticulitis. At one month of follow-up, she had no complications. In conclusion, cecal diverticulitis in pediatrics is a rare pathology, difficult to diagnose, and is often confused with acute appendicitis due to clinical findings and complementary studies. Therefore, it is usually diagnosed during examination by laparoscopy or laparotomy.