1 May 2022Article
Acute appendicitis: Covid-19 pandemic did not change presentation and treatment
Andrej Nikolovski 1Cemal Ulusoy 2Kristijan Dervishov 1Aleksadar Otljanski 1
Affiliations
Article Info
1 Department of Visceral Surgery, University Surgery Clinic “Sv. Naum Ohridski”, Skopje, N. Macedonia
2 Department of General Surgery, Prof. Dr. Cemil Taşçıoğlu Şehir Hastanesi, Istanbul, Turkey
Ann. Ital. Chir., 2022, 93(3), 369-373;
Published: 1 May 2022
Copyright © 2022 Annali Italiani di Chirurgia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
AIM: This single-tertiary non-Covid center retrospective study analyses the impact on Covid-19 pandemic on the presentation and the treatment in patients operated for acute appendicitis. METHODS: Total number of 152 patients operated for acute appendicitis in two separate periods (April – August 2019, and April – August 2020), were subjected to retrospective analysis. Patients were divided in two groups: pre-pandemic Group A and pandemic Group B. RESULTS: Eighty one patient was operated in the pandemic period and the rest 71 one year ago in the same period. Preoperative C-reactive protein levels presented statistically higher in the pandemic group (p = 0.0455). Time from admission to surgery was shorter in the pandemic group (7.5 ± 4.6 vs 5.8 ± 4.9; p = 0.0155). Overall operative time and the laparoscopic operative time were statistically longer in the pandemic group (68.8 vs. 76.8 minutes; p = 0.039 and 60.04 vs 74.0 minutes; p = 0.0141, respectively). Complicated appendicitis rates were similar, although periappendicular abscess was more common in the pandemic group, but without statistical significance. Length of stay was shorter in the pandemic group (p = 0.53). CONCLUSION: Our data showed that during the Covid-pandemic, acute appendicitis surgery is safe and feasible with results equal to the prepandemic period.
Keywords
- Appendicitis
- Appendectomy
- Covid