A common indication for laparoscopic mesenteric lymph node biopsy is to provide a tissue diagnosis in the absence of palpable peripheral nodes via a minimally invasive approach. There are no reports to date of ischaemia to the appendix as a complication of this procedure. We report the case of a 34-year-old lady who underwent a mesenteric biopsy for a lesion found incidentally on CT to investigate longstanding abdominal pain, and 2 days later required an appendicectomy for ischaemic appendicitis.