Perianal abscess: "Have I excluded leukaemia"?

Abstract

Perianal abscess is a common surgical emergency. I describe two patients in whom perianal abscess was the presenting feature of acute myeloblastic leukaemia. The diagnosis of leukaemia was made initially from histological examination of the excised perianal tissue. These cases emphasise the importance of a preoperative diagnosis of leukaemia and the need to request a full blood and differential white cell count.