BACKGROUND: To evaluate partial or total ischemia, through ligature with an unabsorbed thread of vessels from the vermiform appendix of rabbits, as well as the mechanical obstruction, through ligature with an unabsorbed thread at the basis of the vermiform appendix, at 1 cm from the cecum, in the pathogenesis of acute appendicitis. To evaluate the histology of the appendix (normal and affected). To study the resident bacterium flora in the appendix (normal and affected) and the peritonitis exudate. METHODS: Seventy- two male rabbits (Oryctogalus cuniculus), from New Zealand lineage were used, weighting approximately 3.000 grams. The animals were divided into: pilot (A), bacterium flora (B), control (H) and experiment (C,D, E, F and G) groups, and were observed in periods of 96 hours and 192 hours. A ligature with an unabsorbed thread of vessels from the meso appendix was performed in group D,E,F,G (ischemic model), and of the base of the appendix, 1 cm from the cecum, in group C (mechanical obstruction). In the (H) control group only the surgical simulation was performed. RESULTS: Acute appendicitis was detected in experiment group (C, D, E, F and G). CONCLUSION: The method used causes acute appendicitis with distinct anatomopathological alterations. The main bacteria found in the physiological flora of the enteric juice of the vermiform appendix and in the exudates peritonitis was Escherichia coli.
Appendicitis; Acute disease; Rabbits; In vitro
