The technic of operations in all fields of surgery has been standardized on physiologic principles so that, while the detailed procedure itself may and does vary with different surgeons, the underlying principle on which the procedure is based is the same. There is, however, an outstanding exception, and that applies to treatment of the stump of the appendix. While methods of handling the stump are fairly numerous, they may all be grouped into two categories: (1) the buried stump method and (2) the nonburied stump method.
Frequently the reasons brought forward by the proponents of one method in justification of their procedure are the very ones that are used by the opponents of that same method in justification of the other. For instance, Torek1 pointed to the danger of postoperative adhesions and intestinal obstruction in cases in which simple ligation or the unburied stump method was used and cited