Emergency Appendectomy and COVID-19 Pandemic: Different Outcomes?

Ramos C*, Santos V, Causi T, Figueira A and Miranda L

Department of General Surgery, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, Portugal

^*Correspondance to: Carlota Ramos 

 PDF  Full Text DOI: 10.25107/2474-1647.3624

Abstract

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is a common cause of emergency room visit requiring surgery. The absence or delay in treatment is associated with severe complications and increase of morbidity and mortality. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decrease in the number of visits to the emergency department due to surgical pathology. The authors intend to infer whether patients with appendicitis presented in more advanced stages of the disease and whether this may have influenced the outcomes. Methods: A retrospective observational study was done at a tertiary center, in an urgent surgery context, with the purpose of evaluate and compare the patients of two groups, the first in a year period without COVID-19 pandemic and the second during a year the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 387 patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis were evaluated (222 in the first group and 165 in the second group). Results: The authors found a statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the presentation of the disease with complicated disease. In the presence of complicated disease with abscess or peritonitis, the approach route did not show statistical differences between groups. Conclusion: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was manifested in a decrease in the total number of patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis, an increase in severity of the initial presentation and cases of complicated acute appendicitis. Laparoscopic surgery was performed at a higher rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate of midline incisions increased in patients submitted to open surgery. There was no significant increase in postoperative complications, morbidity and mortality in the period of COVID-19 pandemic.

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Cite the article

Ramos C, Santos V, Causi T, Figueira A, Miranda L. Emergency Appendectomy and COVID-19 Pandemic: Different Outcomes?. Clin Surg. 2023; 8: 3624..