Introduction: Appendicitis is one of the most common diseases that require urgent surgical intervention. Due to its position, the inflamed appendix can cause many complications in abdominal cavity. Most of these complications are based on the anatomical position of the appendix. According to world literature over 65% of the anatomical positions of appendix is retrocaecal position, followed paracaecal and then the other positions of the appendix in different percentages. Goal: The main goal of this research is to shown that anatomical retrocaecal position of the appendix can lead to prolonged hospitalization and more often occurrence of appendicitis complications. Material and methods: The research is based on patients who had appendectomy during 2009 at the Cantonal Hospital Zenica and General Hospital Tešanj. The study included approximately 400 respondents and the method of research was of retrospective, descriptive and analytical type. Results and discussion: According to the results of this research we can conclude that in our country is not devoted enough attention to the anatomic position of the appendix and that we are not using enough diagnostic methods such as ultrasound and CT in determining the anatomic position to help determine the course of the disease . Conclusions: Retrocaecal appendix position according to the obtained data from this study did not cause many complications in classical appendectomy but this can be attributed to insufficient observation of the anatomical position of the appendix.

[Med Arch 2012; 66(3.000): 190-193]

Retrocaecal appendix, appendicitis, appendectomy