Objective: Appendectomy and tonsillectomy remain controversial environmental factors in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency of tonsillectomy and appendectomy in patients with IBD. In addition, the effects of tonsillectomy and appendectomy on age of IBD diagnosis, site of intestinal involvement, and medical treatments were investigated.

Methods: A total of 131 IBD patients and 76 healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. All of these patients included in this study were asked if they had undergone an appendectomy or tonsillectomy and their age at the time of the surgery. The age of diagnosis of IBD, medical treatment, disease location, and perianal involvement characteristics of the patients collected from the hospital records were evaluated.

Results: Of 90 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 2 patients underwent appendectomy after the age of 20 and after the diagnosis of UC. Compared with HCs, appendectomy and the age during operation were not associated with the incidence of UC. Moreover, 8 of 41 patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) had undergone appendectomy. Of these, 6 patients had undergone surgery before the age of 20 and before the diagnosis of CD. Compared with HCs, appendectomy and the operative age were significantly associated with the incidence of CD. No significant relationship was observed between the groups in terms of tonsillectomy.

Conclusion: Appendectomy was associated with an increased risk of developing CD; however, no effect was observed on the risk of developing UC. Moreover, tonsillectomy was not associated with an increased risk of incidence of both CD and UC.